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HISTORICAL NOTES 


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ON 

THE LIFE OF CHRIST 


Professor FRANK K. SANDERS, D.D. 

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BIBLE STUDY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

250 Devonshire Street 
boston 

1107 



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LIBRARY of C0NGKE5S 
Two Copies Receiveo 

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Copyright , 1907, 
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PREFACE 


These notes were written to accompany the Bible Study 
Union Biographical lessons on the Life of Christ. They were 
originally published in various weekly papers, and were found 
so valuable as to warrant their issue in book form for perma¬ 
nent use. 

The notes follow the lessons, chapter by chapter, but pre¬ 
sent an interpretation of the life of Christ rather than an 
account of its details. They trace its progress, placing its prin¬ 
cipal incidents and teachings in their proper historical environ¬ 
ment and showing their meaning. This enables the reader 
to win a true historical perspective, and thus to understand 
each lesson in the light of its relation to Christ’s life as a 
whole as well as for its own special teachings. The notes 
also suggest the practical applications of the lessons to the 
life of to-day. 

Dr. Sanders’ high reputation as a Biblical scholar is a suf¬ 
ficient guarantee that teachers and pupils alike will find these 
notes of great aid toward the correct understanding and best 
use of the Gospel narrative. 









TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER PAGE 

1. The Historic Preparation for the Coming 



of Christ ...... 

. 

i 

2. 

“ A Saviour Who is Christ, the Lord.” 


5 

3. 

The Growth of Jesus to Maturity 

. 

9 

4. 

John’s Preaching of Repentance 


13 

5. 

The Consecration and Adjustment of Jesus 

TO 



His Work ...... 

. 

17 

6. 

His First Followers: The Dawning of their 



Faith . . . . . . 

# 

21 

7. 

Jesus’ Self-presentation at Jerusalem 

TO 



Leaders and People .... 

. 

25 

8. 

The Journey through Samaria to Galilee 


29 

9. 

Jesus in the Synagogue at Nazareth 

. 

34 

10. 

The Call of the Four .... 

. 

38 

11. 

The Beginning of Pharisaic Opposition 

IN 



Galilee ....... 

. 

42 

12. 

The Sabbath Question .... 

. 

46 

13. 

The Beginnings of the Active Ministry 

OF 



Jesus. A Review. 


50 

14. 

The Choice of the Twelve .... 


54 

15. 

The Sermon on the Mount: Disciples, Their 



Rewards, Obligations, and Standards 


58 

16. 

The Sermon on the Mount: Our Duty to God 

62 

17. 

The Sermon on the Mount: Applications of the 



New Law of Righteousness . 


66 

18. 

Jesus’ Estimate of John the Baptist 


70 

19. 

Pharisaic Calumny and Narrowness Rebuked . 

74 

20. 

The Parables of the Kingdom . 


78 

21. 

The Commanding Personality of Jesus 


82 

22. 

The Power of Faith. 


86 

23. 

The Mission of the Twelve 


90 

24. 

The Feeding of the Five Thousand . 


93 


v 




VI 


Introduction 


CHAPTER PAGE 

25. The Crisis Faced at Capernaum . .97 

26. The Campaigns of Jesus in Galilee. A Review 102 

27. The First Northern Withdrawal . . . 106 

28. The Second Withdrawal to the North : Peter’s 

Confession . . . . . . .110 

29. The Transfiguration . . . . .114 

30. Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles . . 118 

31. The Mission of the Seventy .... 121 

32. The Third Presentation at Jerusalem ; Jesus 

the True Shepherd of Men .... 125 

33. Renewed Pharisaic Opposition and Popular 

Enthusiasm . ...... 129 

34. Parables of Grace and Warning . . . 133 

35. The Raising of Lazarus . . . . 136 

36. The Final Journeying toward Jerusalem . 140 

37. Conditions of Loyal Service .... 143 

38. Jesus at Jericho and Bethany . . . 147 

39. In Training for Apostleship. A Review . 150 

40. Jesus Claiming Messiahship .... 154 

41. Jesus’ Messiahship Rejected .... 158 

42. Christ’s Last Conflict with the Pharisees . 161 

43. The Close of Christ’s Public Ministry . . 165 

44. Christ’s Prophetic Discourses on Mount Olivet 168 

45. The Institution of the Lord’s Supper . 172 

46. The Farewell Discourse in the Upper Room . 175 

47. At the Garden of Gethsemane . . . .179 

48. The Trial and Condemnation of Jesus . . 183 

49. The Crucifixion of Jesus.187 

50. The Risen Christ.191 

51. The Last Instructions ..... 195 

52. The Man Christ Jesus: A General Review . 199 


THE LIFE OF CHRIST 


Chapter 1.—The Historic Preparation for the Coining 
of Christ. Lu. Is 5=25, 57-80. 

The life of Jesus of Nazareth can never be adequately 
set forth by one interpreter. So many-sided is its con¬ 
tact with the life and thought of all ages, and so pro¬ 
found its significance, that it outreaches the comprehen¬ 
sion of any one mind. As the first century after Christ 
required no less than four Gospels in order that every 
type of mind might find in Him the revealer of God to 
men, so the present age, with its bewildering variety of 
attainment and need, welcomes repeated attempts to ex¬ 
hibit to it the living Christ of history and of experi¬ 
ence. Each one emphasizes some permanent aspect of 
His life, some vital contact with His masterful person¬ 
ality, some uplift for the present day. 

These chapters are written from the point of view of 
the teacher, who desires to interpret helpfully the life of 
Jesus. They will aim to create a proper historical per¬ 
spective, doing justice to the environment which both 
helped and thwarted His work; to emphasize, as they 
occur, the data of real significance; to assist in their 
proper classification and ordered development; to stimu¬ 
late, as far as feasible, the constructive imagination of 
each reader so that he will reproduce for himself each 
scene; and to hint at the life-values so prodigally sug¬ 
gested by the words and deeds of the Master. 

The personality of Jesus as unfolded in the Gospels 
is that of a master of men, keen of insight, ready in 
sympathy, bold in resourceful leadership. He was like¬ 
wise a prophet who reinterpreted the ideals of the past 
in fresh and living forms, a law-giver who reformulated 
the working standards of every-day religious life, a 


2 


The Life of Christ 

teacher who simplified and made more real the relation¬ 
ship of God with men, a character which embodied the 
Divine in human form. Unique as He was, however, 
He was indebted to the past. He did His work at a 
time when the world had been made ready to hear His 
message and to spread it abroad. 

The story of the preparation of the world for the 
work of Jesus reaches back as far as history itself. It 
is the story of the gradual growth of an adequate con¬ 
sciousness of God. This process did not begin with the 
origin of the Hebrew people. There was a long religious 
heritage before their day, which endowed them with re¬ 
ligious sensitiveness and power of apprehension. God 
was a great reality to every true Hebrew, an important 
factor in His universe. It became, therefore, possible, 
in the course of centuries of varying but broadening ex¬ 
perience, for the nation, through its prophetic thinkers, 
to formulate a working conception of God, man, the 
universe, and their mutual relations, far in advance of 
that held by any other people, and thus to become fitted 
to give religious instruction to an eager world. 

What the Hebrews regarded as their supreme mis¬ 
fortune enabled them to achieve this sublime commis¬ 
sion. Before they could teach the world the things of 
God they needed unification, compact organization, a 
classifying and reducing to system of their distinctive 
ideas, and a high level of intelligence. The Babylonian 
exile opened the way to these achievements. It resulted, 
under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, in the es¬ 
tablishment of Judaism, with its ritual, its synagogue 
and its strenuous religious partisanship. Judaism put 
a premium upon intelligence and loyalty. Its standards, 
ideals and methods tended to uniformity. The Jew had 
hut one message regarding God, but it was adequate. 

The long-continued dominance of foreign nations 
over the Jewish race resulted in its wide dispersion over 
the commercial world. In time no important city 
lacked its Jewish colony, a hive of enterprise, a center 
of wealth, respected as a community with definite re- 


Chapter 1. Historic Preparation 


3 


ligious convictions. The Jews made a marked impres¬ 
sion upon the decadent paganism of their day and thus 
aided in important fashion the surrender of the older 
superstitions to the attack of Christianity. 

After Alexander's conquest of Asia Judaism met a 
new and formidable foe. Hellenism was adaptable, ag¬ 
gressive and essentially selfish. It glorified humanity, 
whereas Judaism exalted God. Neither afiorded by it¬ 
self a permanent philosophy of life. Each gained by 
impact upon the other. Judaism's heroic struggle un¬ 
der her Maccabean leaders against the kings who sought 
to Hellenize her people resulted in more than indepen¬ 
dence. It established her loyalty to the past, her confi¬ 
dence in the future, her consciousness of power, her 
self-satisfaction. It insured the continuance of her his¬ 
toric development. 

More than half a century before the birth of Jesus 
the famous general Pompey placed the last Hasmonean 
king under the “protection” of Rome, which meant a 
gradual assumption of Roman sovereignty. Galling as 
this yoke became to the patriotic and ambitious race, 
it was of inestimable significance for them, multiplying 
many times their effectiveness. Rome stood for peace 
and order, for safe and speedy transportation, for the 
growing unity of the world. Rome's capacity for ad¬ 
ministration promoted the rapid spread of the language 
and culture of the Greeks, thereby awakening decadent 
peoples to new life and fresh enterprise. The subjec¬ 
tion of the Jewish people was, therefore, a mere inci¬ 
dent in their attainment of a broader opportunity for 
impressing the world. 

Whatever its defects, Judaism was a great religious 
brotherhood. The Psalms and other writings of its day 
breathe a deeply religious spirit. By it was fostered 
many a strong and devout personality. The parents of 
John, Zacharias and Elisabeth, were typical of a large 
and important, although unobtrusive, section of the peo¬ 
ple, whose spiritual life was fed by the Judaism of their 
experience, who were truly ready for Jesus and His mes- 


4 


The Life of Christ 


sage, who supplied His contingent of eager disciples. 
Such as they were capable of visions—of an Israel, obe¬ 
dient and holy, of a Messiah whose leadership would en¬ 
able Israel to" do its anticipated work. With them the 
joy of parenthood was lost in the privilege of guardian¬ 
ship. With zeal and tenderness they brought up their 
son to be “God’s man.” No wonder that he “waxed 
strong in spirit,” developing early a comprehension of 
the task which was to be his, and the sturdy indepen¬ 
dence which made him adequate to its responsibilities. 



Hebron. 

Supposed to have been the home of John the Baptist. 


The forerunner of Jesus was the child of centuries, 
the living expression of the age-long development 
through the Jewish people of the unchanging Divine 
purpose. Generations participated in this movement 
without realizing the significance of their work; na¬ 
tions opposed it only to increase its power. It did not 
come to a close with the births of John and Jesus, but 
was only accelerated. The men and women of to-day, 
willing or reluctant alike, are also participants. The 
kingdom of God is to come in all its fulness. To-day 
as never before we can realize that all history has been 
preparing for it and can be assured of its consumma¬ 
tion in God’s own time. The supreme value of our own 
lives, however humble or great they may seem to be, is 
in their relation to this world movement. 







Chapter 2. The Advent 


5 


Chapter 2.—“A Saviour Who Is Christ, the Lord.” 

Mt. 1:18-25; Lu. 1:26-56; 2:1-20; Jo. 1:1-18. 

The birth of Jesus came, indeed, at the very “ful¬ 
ness of time.” It was at a turning point of history. 
The energies of many ancient empires had spent them¬ 
selves; Greece had exchanged her spear and helmet for 
the merchants staff and the robe of the scholar. Rome’s 
lust for conquest had been sated, so that her ambition 
could be roused by the thought of wisely administering 
the world she had subdued. Wherever conditions made 
clemency possible her dependencies were allowed large 
freedom of life. The mighty emperor, Augustus, was 
too firmly seated on his throne to be suspicious in petty 
ways. 

Thus the Palestine of the days of Jesus was singularly 
well fitted to be the starting-point of a world movement. 
To that world, as Smith so well remarks, “its every 
port, on sea or desert, was, at that time, an open gate¬ 
way.” The Jewish people had become a spiritually in¬ 
telligent and responsive working unit, capable of pro¬ 
ducing those who under proper leadership were ready 
to do heroic and holy deeds, and able to comprehend, 
explain and proclaim Divine ideals of life. While 
Judaism made a little, self-satisfied world of its own, 
it was also in immediate contact with the world with¬ 
out. Jerusalem was a true world-center to which Jews 
from all nations came on pilgrimage. Many of her 
citizens were merchant princes who had connections 
with distant lands. Moreover Herod the Great, who sat 
on the throne when Jesus was born, was an alien by 
blood, a sworn vassal of Rome and a devotee of Hellenic 
culture. He made welcome to his realm the clever, the 
resourceful, the enterprising and the artistic of every 
nationality. Soldiers, merchants, travelers, scholars, 
even immigrants of another race, were no unusual sight 
in his kingdom. Ho country in the world could have 
served so well as the scene of the Messiah’s rapidly un¬ 
folding ministry. 


6 


The Life of Christ 


The very reason which Luke gives for the birth of 
Jesus in the city of Bethlehem exhibits the freedom 



Bethlehem, Showing the Castle-like Church of the Nativity 

on the Left. From a photograph. 


which Augustus permitted to a nation which obeyed his 
will. By a decree he called for a general census. No 
doubt the enrolment was distasteful to his Jewish sub¬ 
jects. He insisted on the measure, but allowed it to be 
executed in a distinctively Jewish way. As far as pos¬ 
sible each Jew was registered at his ancestral home. 
It was not essential that Mary should go to Bethlehem, 
but her natural desire that her son should be recognized 
as of David’s line was perhaps sufficient to account for 
her presence. 

That Jesus was of David’s descent does not seem to 
have been disputed in His generation. His spiritual 
heirship was, however, of greater moment to the open- 
minded Jews than that He was David’s son in the flesh. 
His personality rather than His pedigree must have de¬ 
termined men’s convictions. They saw that He fulfilled 
the Messianic ideal and hailed Him as David’s son. To 
show that His descent could be regularly traced from 
David in more than one way was an afterthought. 

In the beautiful stories gathering around the birth 
of Jesus the first and third Gospels enable us to realize 
in part the home that welcomed Him. Its central fig¬ 
ure is His mother, Mary. Through all the stages of 
wonder, shrinking, submission to the will of God, com¬ 
prehension of the exalted privilege conferred upon her, 












Chapter 2. The Advent 


7 


exultant gratitude, deliberate adjustment for the future, 
meditative devotion to her Child and a touch of awe re¬ 
garding His destiny, the narratives convey an impres¬ 
sion of a strong and deep yet womanly nature. Gentle, 
trustful and pure, she was also resolute, thoughtful and 
self-controlled, able to wait on God’s own time. 

Joseph stands more in the background, but not from 
lack of individuality. Under the keenest of trials he 
remained generous, considerate and honorable; made 
fully aware of the duty laid upon him by God, he was 
heroically ready. He was worthy to become the guar¬ 
dian of the Holy Child. 

There is a note of exultant joy in the matchless story 
of the birth which has been sounding ever since that 
blessed night. Many there were beside the shepherds 
who had been awaiting with ill-concealed eagerness the 
gracious visitation of God for the consolation of Israel. 
An earthly as well as a heavenly host was ready to hail 
the advent of a Prince of Peace, through whom God’s 
good pleasure would become manifest to men. 

What each Gospel seeks to make clear is that a great 
spiritual event took place that night of supreme signifi¬ 
cance for humanity. It was not merely Jesus the man 
who was born, but Jesus the Saviour of men, He who 
was “of the seed of David according to the flesh,” but 
was also “the Son of God with power according to the 
spirit of holiness.” The fourth Gospel in its elaborate 
prologue makes this no clearer than the others. He 
was the living revelation of God because He was the 
only begotten of the Father, heralded by Divine mes¬ 
sengers and guarded by heavenly hosts. 

The conviction of the men and women of to-day that 
Jesus was more than a human being like ourselves rests, 
like that of the first generation of Christians, on the 
gradual unfolding of His divinity through His life. 
Neither Jesus Himself nor His opponents nor His apos¬ 
tles laid any stress upon the facts of His birth. The 
apostles preached about His death and resurrection and 
then narrated the achievements of His active life. 


8 


The Life of Christ 


These were the proofs which appealed to the hearts of 
men and insured their allegiance to Jesus as their Lord. 

One who thoughtfully studies the life of Jesus must 
take into account at the very outset His divine nature. 
It is the clue which explains the mystery of His per¬ 
sonality and His power. Without these stories of the 
Divine watchfulness at His birth the record would seem 
incomplete. The leaders of the early church took the 
divinity of Jesus for granted. Nowhere do we find the 
significance of it more adequately stated than by the 
apostle Paul, in the sixties, while he was in prison at 
Rome. In Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians he 
declares in words which have satisfied the hearts of de¬ 
voted men and women of every age the supremacy, re¬ 
demptive power and sacrificial love of Christ. 

The significance of the fact that Jesus was the Son 
of God, sent into the world for its redemption, is very 
great. God was first fully understood through His Son. 
His life brought the Divine nature within man’s reach. 
It has made religion a life of active co-operation with 
God. But the thought that Jesus was more than a hu¬ 
man personality goes deeper. He becomes a Saviour 
who invites our confidence and our allegiance because 
He is divine and through Him we have contact with a 
complete experience and with a perfect expression of 
it in forms of life. 


Chapter 3. Childhood and Youth 9 

Chapter 3.—The Growth of Jesus to Maturity, 

Mt. 2:1-23; Lu. 2:21-52. 

It is a rather remarkable fact that the Gospels have 
so little to say regarding the first thirty years of the 
life of Jesus. A legitimate curiosity might seek to 
know more of His gradual attainment of that confident 
maturity of conviction and purpose which He exhibited 
from the beginning of His ministry. This meagreness 
of tradition may have been due to the reserve of the 
writers who would use only well-tested material or to 
the paucity of available information when the Gospels 
were completed. The narrative of Luke doubtless re¬ 
flects the best traditions. There are peculiarities of 
style which indicate that he derived some of his infor¬ 
mation from written or oral Aramaic sources. It is not 
improbable that Mary was his informant, at least in 
part, and that he carefully sifted the data laid before 
him, preserving that alone which had significance. That 
much traditional material of an inferior sort was in cir¬ 
culation the Apocryphal gospels would seem to indi¬ 
cate. 

The data preserved to us continue that strange im¬ 
pression of supernaturalness and naturalness combined 
already noted in the narrative of His birth. The infant 
Jesus is taken to the temple for presentation and re¬ 
demption precisely as any other boy would be taken, 
but there the aged Simeon and Anna recognize Him and 
declare His mission.^ 

In the first Gospel is the narrative which links the 
child Jesus with the most crafty and cruel nature that 
ever misused power. Herod the Great was suspicious, 
cunning, proud of his royal state and loth to yield it 
even to his lawful heirs. What wonder that the queries 
of the Magi filled him with fear and rage! The resul¬ 
tant massacre of the innocent babes of Bethlehem was 
but a trifle to such a madman as he, one who, on mere 
suspicion, could order his own family to shameful death. 

This monster of wickedness, yet master of the art of 


10 


The Life of Christ 


ruling Jewry, one who had done much administratively 
for his kingdom, reducing it to order and introducing 
culture, came to his unlamented death some few years 
after the birth of Jesus. He bequeathed Judea, Sa¬ 
maria and Edom to his eldest son Archelaus, Galilee 
and Perea to Antipas, and the northeastern district to 
Philip. Archelaus was a stupid brute. After ten 
troubled years he was, a. d. 6, superseded by a Roman 
procurator, nominally subordinate to the Syrian legate. 
These rulers, quite unaccustomed to Jewish ideas and 
habits, disdainful of all but Romans, and entrusted with 
large powers, did much to strain the relations between 
Rome and her Jewish subjects. The latter actually had 
much freedom, the Sanhedrin and the local councils 
exercising important administrative and judicial func¬ 
tions, yet their discontent increased steadily. Pilate, 
who began his official career about 26 A. D., was in con¬ 
stant conflict with the people. 

The greater portion of the growth of Jesus to matu¬ 
rity was spent in Galilee under the sovereignty of Herod 
Antipas. For this monarch he once expressed a sover¬ 
eign contempt. Antipas was thoroughly selfish in his 
ambitions and his acts. He was at heart a pagan, and 
entirely out of touch with the real currents of thought 
in his dominion. He did not, however, interfere with 
them. The Galileans, less fanatical than their brethren 
of Judea, were equally patriotic. Living among them, 
Jesus presumably would have been aware of the active 
ambitions of His race and of the direction of their 
hopes. 

Nazareth was in many respects an ideal place for His 
boyhood home. While sheltered and protected by its 
position as a village in a hollow, from hills close at hand 
one can see, as Smith remarks, “a map of Old Testament 
history,” and a panorama of the passing life. The in¬ 
spiration of the past and the stimulus of the present 
and future was ready to the hand and heart of a 
thoughtful lad, whose youth and young manhood were 
passed at Nazareth. It was no secluded or obscure 


Chapter 3. Childhood and Youth 


11 


place, but merely a well-protected one. In close touch 
with the crowded routes of trade and war and social 
life, it revealed the rich, full life of the day. 



Nazareth. From a photograph. 


The poverty of the household of Joseph may fairly 
be inferred from the simple gift which Mary was able 
to bring to the temple at the presentation or redemption 
of her first-born son. Its religious atmosphere and the 
carefulness to meet with hearty completeness all reli¬ 
gious obligations and opportunities may be equally de¬ 
duced from their scrupulous fulfilment of every cere¬ 
monial detail, from the insight into Mary’s richly imag¬ 
inative religious mind which we gain in the Magnificat 
and for the regularity of their annual visit to Jerusa¬ 
lem at the passover season. 

We may be sure that Jesus went through the natural 
round of training recognized as befitting a Jewish lad. 
We may be also certain that He entered into this with 
a glad enthusiasm, a ready comprehension, a maturitv 
of sympathy which astonished those who dealt with 
Him. The wonder of the venerable doctors at Jeru¬ 
salem at His understanding of the deeper meaning of 
the Law could not have been an isolated event. We 
may fairly infer from the quotations and references 
preserved in the meagre record of His utterances that 
He loved to study the book of Deuteronomy and the 
words of the prophets and psalmists. He could pene¬ 
trate to their deepest meaning. The dry and superficial 
comments of the average rabbi of His day must very 





12 


The Life of Christ 


early have seemed to Him a mockery of the real spirit¬ 
ual and eternal message of these men of God. To Him 
these words were still words of truth and power, the 
very words of God, whereas He came increasingly to 
realize that the current Rabbinical teachings, supposed 
to be the legitimate interpretation into practical form 
of the words of God, were in fact the merest and most 
threadbare human distortions of it. 

The story of His visit to the temple, when he won¬ 
dered that His parents should be surprised that He took 
advantage of the great opportunity given Him to make 
progress in the study of His Heavenly Father’s will, ex¬ 
hibits His engrossing spirituality. He had come to 
thrill with the great thought that to the Jew had been 
committed God’s affairs, and that the highest duty and 
privilege of any Jew was to become wise with regard to 
them and to assume the leadership God should open. 
How much beyond this He had gotten it is impossible 
to declare. The unique fact of His life was His abso¬ 
lute openness to the best impressions. He was ready as 
no one else has ever been to make the fullest use of Di¬ 
vine suggestion and direction. 

Side by side with the thought of the divinity of Jesus 
we need the conviction of His complete humanity. His 
growth was normal, His wisdom gained by experience, 
His life entirely devoid of spectacular features. But 
His human nature was fully utilized. Ho clogs, no hid¬ 
den faults, no morbid fancies blinded His vision or 
dwarfed His will. He exhibited a full-formed human 
life. 

There is tremendous significance for every-day men 
and women in this fact. Hot only did this round of 
experience put Him into real and vital fellowship with 
all who have earnest lives to live, but He exhibited the 
power and the promise and the perfection of an unham¬ 
pered experience. He put first things first. He gave 
the things of God the right of way. Thus He revealed 
the significance of a fulness of religious experience, 
of a real and complete consecration. 


Chapter The Forerunner 13 

Chapter 4 . —John’s Preaching of Repentance. 

Mt. 3:1-12; Lu. 3:1-18. 

The first step taken, to all outward seeming, in spe¬ 
cific preparation for the Messianic work of Jesus was 
the appearance of John the Baptist as a preacher of 
repentance and righteousness of life. Luke alone has 
preserved for us any hint of His development. “The 
child waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till 
the day of his showing unto Israel.” Like Jesus, John 
gave up his life to religious demands, but unlike the 
one who was to be his Master, he brooded in solitude 
over the work he was to do. The Essenes had communi¬ 
ties in the wilderness of Judea, but it is doubtful wheth¬ 
er Luke’s remark indicates that John was one of them. 
He was a prophet with an Elijah’s instinct for loneli¬ 
ness and individuality. That he was in the deserts 
does not certainly mean more than that as he grew to 
maturity he absented himself more and more from the 
active life of his home and country, and persistently 
sought the solitude for communion with God. It was 
a part of the Hebrew creed to honor such a withdrawal. 
They believed that God would take fruitful possession 
of such a solitary soul and reveal through it His imme¬ 
diate will. 

Thus slowly matured a rich though rugged personal¬ 
ity, not original in its thinking, but, rather, faithful, 
keen, masterful through deep conviction, a true leader 
of men at a time of crisis, but not one who by his con¬ 
structive and statesmanlike vision could remain per¬ 
manently as the guide of their later development. Him¬ 
self a prophet in heart, John fed in solitude on the 
grand teachings of the prophets which he interpreted 
with religious insight and yet as one of them. 

No evangelist gives us a clue to the specific reason 
for John’s appearance. Doubtless the spirit of God 
stirred within him, as in the prophets of old, an irre¬ 
sistible sense of responsibility for the delivery of a need¬ 
ed message to his fellowmen. It was a Divine and not a 


14 


The Life of Christ 


human impulse. Without knowing when the expected 
Messiah was to make His appearance, he became con¬ 
vinced that it was time for people to prepare for His 
coming and began his impassioned ministry of repent¬ 
ance. 

John first appeared at the edge of the wilderness 
which had become his home, strikingly suggesting in 
his dress and evident asceticism the stern prophet of 
Israel who was in many respects his model. Here, near 
the river Jordan, the people of Jerusalem and Judea 



From a photograph. 

flocked to hear him. It is indicative of the freedom 
then accorded to the Jewish people by the Roman over- 
lords that so suspicious and watchful a procurator as 
Pilate should have passed by without question a popu¬ 
lar movement of this kind. Twenty or thirty years 
later it might not have been allowed. 

Much had been happening during the preceding de¬ 
cades to bring the Messianic hopes of the people of 
Judea to fever heat. The hated dominion of Rome was 
made more conspicuous by the continual presence of 
soldiers at the holy city. The foolish determination of 
one or two procurators to carry to an extreme their 
power by insisting on measures which seemed blasphe¬ 
mous to a reverent and scrupulous Jew, enforced and 
sustained only by bloody battles, had made the degrada¬ 
tion of the people more apparent than ever. Under 
such circumstances any appeal to the popular expecta- 






Chapter J+. The Forerunner 


15 


tion of the Messiah, whom all thought would be a de¬ 
liverer, was sure to arouse instant enthusiasm. 

Just what entered into the conception of a Messiah 
among the best and most representative minds of the 
Jewish people it is hard to say. The popular concep¬ 
tion was not unnaturally a very material one. The 
plain, average Jew wanted a king who would put him¬ 
self at the head of the nation, destroy its enemies and 
inaugurate a world kingdom of which the Jews should 
be the unquestioned masters. The doctors of the law 
were not, as a class, much in advance of this interpre¬ 
tation. The minds of the majority of them were full 
of the thought that spiritual opportunity would be 
reached through political dominance. They dwelt upon 
the assured glory of the Messiah and viewed it as a tem¬ 
poral manifestation. Those who really came nearest 
to anticipating the teaching of Jesus were the honest, 
brave and simple souls for whom Judaism had a spirit¬ 
ual message, who mourned the hardness, the sinfulness 
and the irreligion of the day, who felt that God did not 
bless His people because they did not let Him do so. 
Such realized that the supreme need of the nation was 
a revival of Godlikeness. They read in the prophets 
repeated promises of the universality of faith in Je¬ 
hovah through Israel’s service. They placed the em¬ 
phasis on this religious aim rather than upon the po¬ 
litical method. 

With such the prophet John was in full accord. His 
religious heritage was such as to develop in him a sym¬ 
pathy with such interpretations. He did not concern 
himself with God’s method of giving the world religious 
unity. He only knew that it was to be brought about 
through Israel, God’s chosen servant, made up from 
those who were genuinely consecrated to God’s service. 
So his message was that of separation from evil ways, 
of immediate repentance, of a life committed to deeds 
of righteousness, of deliberate self-consecration as 
evinced by baptism, and of earnest expectancy of the 
One that should come. 


16 


The Life of Christ 


So forceful, fearless and apt were his words that men 
began to query whether John was not himself the ex¬ 
pected One. Perceiving their thoughts John humbly 
declared his function to be that of a herald. He could 
call men to repentance, but the Messiah alone could 
determine their fate. Some he would accept and fill 
with the spirit of God; others he would count unworthy 
and give them over to destruction. It was time for 
men to be thoughtful and to get ready for the judgment 
that would surely come. 

John’s preaching was clearly an indispensable pre¬ 
liminary to the work of Jesus. He not only gave the 
people an attitude of expectancy, but turned their 
thoughts in right directions. He made them realize 
their unworthiness to receive the Messiah and awak¬ 
ened a desire to repent and become true children of the 
covenant. He was not a Jesus, and he did not think 
he was. He was content to be His forerunner. 

John’s preaching has a continual value for all time. 
He went to the heart of the matter. God’s working 
force is always made up from those who have become 
fitted to enter with sympathy into His plans. Our Mes¬ 
siah is an unfettered and exalted Lord. Our every¬ 
day ideal is to enter into personal relation with Him. 
We shall accomplish this only by doing as John urged 
his disciples to do on Jordan’s banks, by repentance, 
reconsecration and the living of genuinely righteous 
lives. 


Chapter 5. Baptism and Temptation 17 

Chapter 5.—The Consecration and Adjustment of Jesus 
to His Work. 

Mt. 3:13—4:11; Lu. 3:21, 22; 4:1-13. 

Such preaching as that of John affected with varying 
results a rapidly widening circle of hearers. It was not 
long before people were discussing his mission and mes¬ 
sage throughout the land. Those who were merely cu¬ 
rious to see a notable personage were soon satisfied. 
Many were thrilled with patriotic zeal and longed to 
join a leader for the anticipated struggle with Eome. 
The devout and noble souls, who were capable of ac¬ 
cepting the moral and religious ideals which John 
sought to emphasize were stirred by his words to conse¬ 
cration and an eager awaiting of a Messianic reformer. 
To Jesus Himself in His village home the news that 
John was publicly proclaiming that the kingdom of 
heaven was at hand came like a trumpet call. He de¬ 
sired at once to number Himself with those who were 
ready to respond to the summons of God through His 
prophet. He may have been conscious already that He 
was to be the chosen of God; He was at any rate con¬ 
scious of being able to render strong service to men in 
God’s name. The long years at Nazareth, years of un¬ 
remitting reflection over God’s revelation of Himself 
in the Scriptures, in history and in life, had been fruit¬ 
ful. With an enthusiasm born of self-mastery and of 
a rare comprehension of the possibilities of the future, 
Jesus turned His steps toward the Jordan. 

As the Baptist himself declared, the baptismal conse¬ 
cration of Jesus was but a form. He revealed at a 
glance and in every action the exquisite purity, the com¬ 
plete devotedness, the holy sincerity of His nature. He 
was already, to all outward seeming, a truly consecrated 
soul. John hesitated to administer the rite, but Jesus 
desired it that He might “fulfil all righteousness.” He 
felt it incumbent on Himself, no less than on His fel¬ 
low men, to openly consecrate His powers to God’s ser¬ 
vice. 


18 


The Life of Christ 


The moment of entire self-yielding to the will of God 
was likewise the moment of acceptance and assurance. 
The account in the Gospel of Luke implies that John 
and Jesus were alone. , The rite had been administered. 
Jesus was absorbed in prayer. Suddenly in some way, 
by natural or spiritual vision, each beheld the token 
of the gift of the Divine Spirit to Jesus for His work, 
and Jesus received the assurance of Divine approval 
and a commission for service. The prophet was con¬ 
vinced that Jesus was the successor for whom he had 
been preparing: Jesus was given a distinctive call to 
Messianic work. 

No wonder that He went away immediately into soli¬ 
tude. His purpose must have been, in part, to think 
out His future course of action. He was no novice. He 
had long since arrived at definite conclusions regarding 
His countrymen, the popular religion and the needs of 
the hour. He must have realized the wide difference 
between current ideas and opinions and those which He 
accepted. He needed to fix upon definite principles of 
action and a clear-cut program, to realize the new sense 
of inward power, to adjust it practically to His work¬ 
ing life, and to determine its use in the furtherance of 
His great purpose. 

The desolate region to which He betook Himself was 
not far away. One could pass quickly from the abodes 
of men to the haunts of the wild beasts. The wilderness 
of Judea was ever the ready refuge of those who wished 
for solitude, whether as fugitives from justice or to hold 
undisturbed communion with God. 

Here, alone, Jesus thought through the problem 
which crowded upon His active understanding. When 
He returned to the Jordan He had reached conclusions 
from which He did not thereafter essentially depart. 
The struggles of those days He has handed down 
through His disciples in the stories of temptation, rep¬ 
resenting experiences terribly real yet doubtless spirit¬ 
ual. Reducing their results to the rules of action to 
which they led, Jesus came to three deliberate de- 


Chapter 5. Baptism and Temptation 


19 


cisions. In the first place, He would not use His mirac¬ 
ulous power for the relief of ordinary human needs, ex¬ 
empting Himself and His friends from the experiences 
of other men. Both He and His disciples bought their 



The Hount of Temptation. 

Mons Quarantania. From a photograph. 


food or went hungry. Nor, again, would He use it to 
create enthusiasm for Himself by exhibiting His mas¬ 
tery of desperate situations. He was not to be a worker 
of such “signs” as the people desired and even demanded. 
Finally, He would not establish the kingdom of God 
in the world by the sacrifice of conscience, pandering to 
popular prejudice and conciliating the Pharisees, whom 
He believed to be leading the people astray. 

It is worth while to note the representative character 
of these experiences. They assailed Jesus from all points 
of view; physical and spiritual, personal and material. 
When they were completed He had run the gamut of 
experience and had become equipped for every trial. 
These tests were keen and subtle. They searched every 
joint in His armor. Only a sound, guileless, sincere, 
truthful, strong and resolute nature could have with¬ 
stood them. But Jesus did remain steadfast. Hav¬ 
ing thought His future policy through to the end, hav¬ 
ing counted every form of cost. He determined upon a 
course of action which would fully accord with the will 
of God, and from this He never swerved. He constant¬ 
ly, as we shall see, adapted His working methods to the 









20 


The Life of Christ 


existing situation, but His principles and His purposes 
did not alter. With His final rejection of the last sub¬ 
tle suggestion of evil, He was fully clothed in the power 
of the Spirit. 

He who is to do great things for God, assuming in 
His name a leadership of men or purposing a steady 
loyalty to the ideals and opportunities of the average 
life, will follow gladly the example of the Master. Se¬ 
cret loyalty is at best a refined kind of selfishness. It 
is better for him and better for the world he is to in¬ 
fluence to be outspoken. The one who definitely and 
publicly consecrates himself to the service of God not 
only enlists the upbuilding energy of God on his behalf, 
but multiplies his natural opportunities for Christian 
helpfulness. Jesus had really given His whole being 
to God long before His visit to the Jordan; but He 
valued the opportunity to take His place among men 
as one of those who are glad to stand up and be counted 
among the active agents of righteousness. 

Hot even men and women of undoubted consecration 
can avoid temptation. It comes to all, as it came to 
Jesus, in the opportunity to use good gifts or ample 
resources in purely selfish ways, to employ unworthy 
means to gain great ends, to use illegal short-cuts to 
desirable achievements. No one can avoid having such 
temptations, but any one can resist them. “We cannot 
prevent the birds hovering around our heads, but we 
need not permit them to build their nests there.” Like 
Jesus those who are pressed by the tempter can best 
employ the weapons of the Spirit. These are sharpest 
and most reliable. They who put on the armor of God 
find themselves more and more able to stand. 


Chapter 6. Jesus’ First Followers 


21 


Chapter 6.—His First Followers : The Dawning of Their 
Faith. 


Jo. 1:19—2:12. 

With the exception of the four memorable days which 
followed the gathering of Jesus and His disciples in 
the upper room at Jerusalem, it is difficult to think of 
four days of greater moment than those which immedi¬ 
ately succeeded the return of Jesus from the desert to 
the river Jordan. He knew by this time what He hoped 
to accomplish, but He was all alone. He had parted 
company with His old life and its associations. He had 
no one to stand with Him and keep Him in touch with 
the world about. It is not unreasonable to suppose that 
as He returned to the Jordan it was with the thought 
that among the multitudes who were listening to John 
there might be a few who were prepared to make com¬ 
mon cause with Him in a campaign for the kingdom 
of heaven. 

The disciples of John the Baptist were already be¬ 
coming classified. His declarations had varying effects. 
To the deputation from the Sanhedrin, sent to deter¬ 
mine his status, he disavowed all other standing than 
that of a prophetic forerunner of a far superior person¬ 
ality, whose mission and power were such as to justify 
John in summoning all men to prepare by repentance 
and holy living for His coming. To the thronging mul¬ 
titudes the Baptist dwelt upon the personal fruitage of 
true repentance, generosity, square dealing, fair-minded¬ 
ness,—and affirmed that the expected One would search 
out and sweep away the impenitent and indifferent. 

Such words quickly classified his hearers. Many 
found his teaching unendurable. Those who accepted 
it and stayed close to John were the very sort for whom 
Jesus was looking. They, on their part, were looking 
for such a one as He. 

To men of this stamp John’s welcome of Jesus, when 
He reappeared, was a revelation. He identified Jesus 
as the One of whom he had been speaking, declaring 


22 


The Life of Christ 


that God Himself had given him this assurance. With 
an insight none the less real because it seems to have 
been temporary, he calls Jesus the “Lamb of God,” the 
Redeemer of humanity. 

There must have been something in the personality 
of Jesus which appealed to the Baptist—an unmistak¬ 
able holiness, serenity and strength. This is what Luke 
meant by saying that he was “in the power of the 
Spirit.” Such an influence is ever silently exerted by 
a wholly unselfish, Christlike nature. 

On the next day the Baptist with two of his intimate 
disciples saw Jesus again and repeated his testimony. 
This time it had all the force of a command. Convinced 
that his associates were fitted to become the helpful fol¬ 
lowers of Jesus, John voluntarily gave them up. No 
greater testimony could be given to the large-hearted¬ 
ness and nobility of the rude prophet. 

With some hesitancy the two left John and followed 
Jesus. Could one so great, they wondered, accept their 
service ? His winning invitation set their minds at rest. 
They gladly followed Him to His abode, where the 
three sat together in friendly intercourse. Their theme 
we can only conjecture. Doubtless Jesus gave expres¬ 
sion to His enthusiastic hopes for the kingdom and its 
appeal to earnest men. His words went home, since the 
two were amenable to them. The Pharisees or their 
strict disciples would have been unmoved, because they 
were not anticipating such a leader as Jesus, nor hold¬ 
ing to the principles which He laid down. 

That interview convinced the two disciples that they 
had found a master of men, who exhibited the truest 
qualities of leadership and appealed to all that was finest 
and noblest in themselves. His wisdom, insight, sin¬ 
cerity and Godlikeness stirred their souls. They found 
themselves approving the verdict of the Baptist that 
Jesus was indeed the awaited Messiah. 

So precious a conclusion could not be kept to them¬ 
selves. The two became three and probably four, since 
one auditor, at least, and very likely the other also, lost 


Chapter 6. Jesus' First Followers 23 

no time in finding his brother and bringing him to 
Jesus. Be-enforced the next day by Philip who, in 
turn, found Nathanael, each one was received by Jesus 
with gracious favor and given a token of deep insight 
which invited his trust. Thus the little band was soon 
knit together by ties of friendship, confidence and won¬ 
der. Jesus was beyond their ken, yet they yielded an 
allegiance to Him. 

These were men who revealed a fine working indi¬ 
viduality. In the first hours of companionship were 
evident the unselfish enthusiasm of Andrew, the rugged 
reliability of Peter, the open-mindedness of Philip, and 
the honest reserve of Nathanael. Each was a true dis¬ 
ciple, but took his own way of reaching and expressing 
fealty. 

A wedding among the circle of relatives or intimate 
family friends gave Jesus an incidental opportunity to 
indicate His conception of the range and character of 
His ministry to men and so exhibit His power that His 
new followers were convinced that the incident was a 
true Messianic “sign.” Jesus refused to produce “signs” 
to order, but He did not hinder His disciples and friends 
from perceiving in some word or act the significance of 
a “sign.” 

Mary, accompanied no doubt by the other members 
of the Nazareth family, had already gone to Cana. 
Thither Jesus came on His way from the Jordan to 
Capernaum. With Oriental hospitality the whole band 
was made welcome at the wedding feast, although prob¬ 
ably unexpected. So large an addition to the guests of 
a humble household brought embarrassment to the host. 
Jesus was in a measure responsible. It is interesting 
to note the confidence with which Mary turned to Jesus, 
who had for so many years been her mainstay. The 
narrative does not imply that she expected a miracle, 
but she certainly appealed to His resourcefulness. His 
reply was not lacking in deference, but conveyed gentlo 
self-assertion, as much as if to say that His sphere and 
hers were henceforth apart, His interest wider than that 


24 


The Life of Christ 


of the family. But Mary knew that He would do some¬ 
thing, and directed the servants to follow His bidding. 

The disciples, made aware of the embarrassment and 
of its relief, were impressed by this manifestation of the 
power of Jesus. To them it was a “sign,” a token of 
His glory, a basis for reverence and faith. Their genu¬ 
ine, indestructible faith of Apostolic days was as yet in 
the germ. All they had at this time was a sense of 
power manifested in friendliness, but this was sufficient 
to transform confidence and friendship into a rudimen- 
tal, uncomprehending faith. 

The conditions of genuine faith are never mechanical, 
nor can conviction be forced. The awakening of the 
faith of John the Baptist and of the group of disciples 
was due primarily to their readiness to believe. They 
were looking for a spiritual leader. Many others saw 
Jesus just as frequently, but were not led to faith, since 
they were not in a responsive mood. The disciples did 
not need to know much about Him in advance. Most 
of them, John included, were puzzled for a long time 
over His ideas and methods, but they were responsive 
to what they did see and could understand. They be¬ 
came sure that Jesus was one of whom God had taken 
possession, whose wisdom and spiritual power were far 
in advance of their own, and they gladly followed Him. 

Such receptiveness of temper is the first step toward 
thorough-going faith. It minimizes difficulties and mul¬ 
tiplies points of contact. It creates a sympathy which 
is necessary to true insight. Real faith is the result 
of a process which begins with interest, and continues 
toward appreciation and loyalty. 


Chapter 7. Jesus at Jerusalem 


25 


Chapter 7.—Jesus* Self-presentation at Jerusalem to 
Leaders and People. 

Jo. 2:13—3:15. 

As a home, or as a point of departure for evangelism, 
Capernaum was an ideal choice on the part of Jesus. 
It was a centrally located, cosmopolitan, important city. 
Had the early ministry of Jesus been of an experimental 
and tentative character Capernaum would have made an 
advantageous starting-point. Since he rather began, as 
the Gospels seem to indicate, with an adequate grasp of 
religious conditions and a matured plan of procedure, 
it was antecedently probable that He would present 
Himself with His appeal in the first place at Jerusalem, 
the headquarters of Judaism. He was eager to win the 
loyalty of the “house of Israel” and to direct its chil¬ 
dren toward a ministry for the world. 



Ancient Jerusalem, from the Hount ©f Olives. 

From Selous' picture of Jerusalem in its Grandeur. 

The pre-eminence of Jerusalem and its doctors of the 
law in the religious life of the Palestine of that day 
does not admit of overstatement. The temple, the San¬ 
hedrin, and Judaism’s most representative men were 
there. Among these leaders were many whose un- 
doubtable piety, learning and experience earned for 
them great influence. There were many like Nicodemus 
and Joseph of Arimathea and Gamaliel who deserved 
the respect in which they were held. 











26 


The Life of Christ 


A line of sharp cleavage ran through the religious 
leaders of the day. They belonged to two great par¬ 
ties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees 
stood for ungrudging and absolute obedience to the 
whole law as interpreted by their recognized authorities. 
Their idea of obedience was often puerile. In their 
anxiety to keep the actual law they overdid their duty. 
They turned everyday life into a religious treadmill. 
Yet they possessed and exhibited the religious temper 
and impressed people with their seriousness. Conse¬ 
quently they had great influence over the masses. The 
Sadducees were fewer in number and less able to move 
public opinion. They were recruited in the main from 
the priestly class, and were influential because of their 
control of the temple revenues and privileges and their 
political power. The representative men of each sect 
were to be found at Jerusalem. 

Jesus chose for His first demonstration a passover sea¬ 
son, a time when all of the leaders and multitudes of the 
people were sure to be in the holy city. Vast crowds 
came from all parts of the land and “from every na¬ 
tion under heaven,” intent on worship and ready for a 
prophetic word. 

It is disappointing that the fourth Gospel—one in 
which merely narrative details are subordinated—is the 
only witness to this interesting and important sojourn 
of J esus. It relates only a typical detail or two, convey¬ 
ing no clear-cut picture of the work of Jesus. From 
hints in the other Gospels it may be inferred that Jesus 
was well known near Jerusalem, but they do not explain 
how He became so. Their silence does not discredit the 
testimony of the fourth Gospel, but leaves it rather vague. 

To Jerusalem Jesus and His friends came for the 
great festival. Conscious of an inspiring message and an 
exalted mission, of divine support and of power not 
wholly untried, He faced the abuses of the temple en¬ 
closure in a new mood. During the many visits since 
His boyhood He must have realized the scandalous and 
secularizing customs which had become institutional. 


Chapter 7 . Jesus at Jerusalem. 27 

The house of God had become a market place. Stalls of 
money-changers and pens of animals for sacrifice occu¬ 
pied the open spaces. He now felt a responsibility. As 
a teacher of God’s will to men, it was fitting that He 
should begin by cleansing the sanctuary and asserting its 
true character and purpose. That the moral sense of 
the people approved His summary action the sequel 
showed. The Sadducean priests with whose profits He 
had interfered did not venture to do Him harm or to 
deny the rightness of His act. They simply demanded 
His authority for acting without permission from the 
leaders. His enigmatical reply neither they nor His 
disciples understood at the time, although it was never 
forgotten. The rulers regarded it as an idle challenge 
which Jesus knew could not be put to the proof, a boast¬ 
ful assertion of power. But He really declared that, do 
as they would to the temple and all that it signified, He 
could speedily re-establish a true place of approach to 
God for men. 

The Gospel narrative implies that Jesus wrought 
other significant deeds than this one and met with a 
show of popular acceptance. He saw, however, that this 
was no real loyalty, and was wholly unreliable. He did 
not lack intimate friends and faithful followers, but 
realized that, on the whole, neither the people nor their 
leaders were prepared to accept Him at His own estimate. 

His conversation with Hicodemus doubtless represents 
a kind of experience of which He often availed Him¬ 
self. Personal contact with real inquirers, made an op¬ 
portunity which He would not forego to give expression 
to the deeper truths of which His heart was full to over¬ 
flowing. Nicodemus had evidently watched the prophet 
from Galilee until he was convinced of His sincerity 
and spiritual power. He determined to give Him quiet 
encouragement and to get more of His mind. Hot un¬ 
naturally there is mingled condescension and respect in 
his first remark. He extends a sort of fellowship to 
Jesus and yet implies that he comes to consider with 
Him the problems of the kingdom of God. The reply 


28 


The Life of Christ 


of Jesus shows His courage and His consistency. He 
did not compromise even with this influential man, but 
reminded him that the kingdom was spiritual and that 
men would enter it by a purely spiritual act. Even 
Nicodemus was taken aback by this reversal of time- 
honored religious values, so that Jesus had to remind 
him that it was based upon genuine experience and pro¬ 
found conviction, and to aflirm that it opened the way 
to the free acceptance of membership in God’s kingdom 
by all men. 

The words that follow in the Gospel are a commen¬ 
tary on this great declaration. Every revelation in¬ 
volves some sort of revolution or readjustment. Those 
who obstinately refuse to give it consideration pro¬ 
nounce their own judgment by making clear their lack 
of candor and of religious purpose. The doer and lover 
of truth always welcomes the light. The reason why 
Jesus had met with so little response was that men 
were not seeking for truth but for the confirmation of 
their own ideas. 

The events touched upon in this narrative reveal the 
thought which filled the heart of Jesus at this time. He 
found in the holy city a strong tendency to substitute 
the formal for the real in religious experience. His in¬ 
dignant attack upon the traffic in the temple was an as¬ 
sertion of higher religious ideals. At that time as to-day 
a true reverence for the house of God was an index of 
the quality of the religious life. There are money¬ 
changers and market men who sometimes need expul¬ 
sion from the sanctuary to-day. Business ability is an 
excellent servant of religion but a bad master. 

The keen desire of Jesus to discover and encourage 
spiritual values is likewise exhibited in His interview 
with the “teacher of Israel.” He went to the very heart 
of religion in a sentence. No one can be counted as a 
real member of God’s kingdom who has not begun to 
direct his life from the standpoint of God. It is nat¬ 
ural for a human being to think of his own interests. 
Partnership with God implies that he thinks also of 


Chaptef 8. From Samaria to Galilee 29 

God’s interests. This is possible for any man, bnt it is 
not natural. It can only be established by the accept¬ 
ance, unconscious or definite, yet always deliberate, of a 
relationship with God which makes His will the arbiter 
of our own. But this is such a change from self-will 
that it amounts to a complete reorganization of one’s 
character. He who experiences it has been “born anew” 
into submissive fellowship with God. 


Chapter 8. —The Journey through Samaria to Galilee. 

Jo. 3:22—4:42. 

How long Jesus remained in Judea cannot be exactly 
determined; the data are very obscure. The fourth 
Gospel implies that He withdrew to Galilee because of 
the distrust and jealousy of the Pharisees. They could 
not agree with Him and strongly objected to His grow¬ 
ing influence with the people among whom He found 
in the aggregate many followers. Even the disciples of 
John the Baptist had some twinges of jealousy when 
they noted that Jesus was overshadowing their beloved 
master. But John himself was quick to declare that he 
was the sponsor and friend of Jesus and that his 
own obscuration was inevitable. A remarkable declara¬ 
tion even for one so high-minded and clear of vision as 
John! The Baptist’s message and methods were at the 
spiritual level of his age. It responded to his call for 
repentance and consecration; but was confused by that 
of Jesus, partly because of its simplicity. The Judeans 
in particular were unprepared to receive a conception of 
religion which minimized its forms. 

It became clear, therefore, to Jesus that no far-reach¬ 
ing results were to be attained in Judea. Galilee of¬ 
fered a better opportunity. Its people were less con- 



30 


The Life of Christ 


servative, more open to conviction. Among them Jesus 
might be able to find real disciples. 

To reach His chosen home at Capernaum He would 
naturally pass through Samaria. This rich province 
was no longer alien territory nor exclusively inhabited 
by Samaritans, but there was no friendliness nor even 
tolerance between men of Samaritan origin and Jews. 
The little company could walk along unmolested, the 
disciples could buy food and probably shelter, but their 
one purpose would be to pass through to Galilee. The 
mutual hatred of the two peoples did not lessen with 
time. 

This bitter prejudice originated several centuries ear¬ 
lier. The Jews of Ezra’s time regarded the Samari¬ 
tans as a mongrel race and refused to permit them to 
participate in worship or to intermarry with Judeans. 
Nehemiah expelled from Judea a priest of high rank 
who defied these rules. The young priest inaugurated 
on Mount Gerizim a rival sanctuary and ritual, to which 
the Samaritans became loyal. Curiously, while the scope 
of a Jewish ritual and the contents of its Scripture 
broadened, that of Samaria remained unaltered. This 
conservatism became finally a matter of pride with the 
Samaritans. The two similar yet rival cults fostered 
a jealousy which increased with every decade. The 
strong control of the Romans prevented national out¬ 
breaks or reprisals, but each people disliked and mis¬ 
trusted the other. 

It was characteristic of Jesus to have no share in this 
national prejudice. He, more than any other in his 
day, could judge men and women for themselves with¬ 
out prejudice. He was thus able to put Himself in 
their place and to reach their hearts. Doubtless there 
were many interesting experiences during the journey, 
but one only is related. The disciples of Jesus would 
have thought it a waste of the Master’s time or worse, 
but to Him it was an inspiring opportunity. 

The group of travelers had paused at a well-known 
landmark where the great road which they had been 


Chapter 8. From Samaria to Galilee 31 

traveling forked in two directions, one branch turning 
westward to Shechem, the other continuing northward 
past the neighboring village of Askar, which is generally 
identified with the Sychar of the Gospel. These two 



Shechem in Samaria, near Jacob's Well. 

From a photograph. 

centers of population were conveniently near. Appar¬ 
ently Jesus wished to avoid Shechem and Sebaste and 
purposed to continue northward. Jacob’s well made a 
convenient and congenial resting-place for Him, while 
the disciples went in search of food, probably to the 
city. 

To this ancient well a Samaritan woman came to 
draw water for her household. Surprise has often been 
expressed that any one should come from either 
Shechem or Askar to this well, passing necessarily more 
abundant supplies on the way. The fact, however, that it 
was the well dug by Jacob was enough to endear it to 
the people and to give its water a peculiar value. An 
Oriental will always ignore convenience in favor of 
custom. 

Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water. Ac¬ 
customed to Jewish disdain, she wondered that the 
Rabbi was willing to accept a courtesy from her. The 
opportunity to give her a glimpse of nobler aims and 
motives Jesus seized. “Little do you know who I am, 
woman, or you would be asking a boon from me, not 
water for quenching a passing thirst, but living water.” 
“But why should one care for better water than that 








32 


The Life of Christ 


which our forefather Jacob secured?” “That which I 
can give is better than this water,” said Jesus, “because 
it does away with thirst and is always at hand.” She 
naturally did not comprehend the meaning of Jesus, so 
that He took the quickest way of getting at her spiritual 
need by referring to her social relations. His remark¬ 
able insight convinced her that Jesus was a prophet. At 
once she pressed Him to solve the standing problem of 
Samaritan religion. Probably she really wished to de¬ 
termine whether He could be of any help to her race. 
The never-ended dispute between the two peoples re¬ 
lated to the proper place of worship, the Samaritans 
claiming that Mount Gerizim was a more ancient sanc¬ 
tuary than Jerusalem. It was certainly the natural 
center of Palestine. 

Her query gave occasion to one of the noblest utter¬ 
ances ever expressed, placing religion “beyond every 
geographical limit” and granting “the charter of uni¬ 
versal worship.” God welcomes as His worshipers 
those who intelligently and sincerely yield their wills to 
His, wherever they may live or however they are born. 
He needs no temple, neither do those who worship Him. 

Naturally the woman was overwhelmed and bewil¬ 
dered. She appealed to the final arbiter, the expected 
Messiah. Her conviction that Jesus was the Messiah 
was really based on the fact which she could grasp that 
He seemed to know her through and through. It was 
enough, however, to send her flying homeward to find 
her neighbors and bring them to Jesus. 

Before she departed the disciples returned. Shocked 
as they were at finding Jesus talking with a woman, and 
a Samaritan at that, they did not venture to question 
Him. They pressed Him to take food, but His heart 
was too fuli of joy. His reply to the woman’s question 
gave a range to His thought and a sense of His oppor¬ 
tunity which thrilled His whole being. He could only 
bid them look out upon the spiritual harvest field which 
God had prepared His people to reap. The approaching 
Samaritans were but a suggestion of the waiting world 


Chapter 8. From Samaria to Galilee 33 

It was easier for the disciples to plan for the con¬ 
version of the greater world lying at a distance than of 
this foreign nation at their doors, to forget their antipa¬ 
thy to other and less well-known nations than to extend 
a hearty friendship to the hated Samaritans. Jesus by 
His example and by His enthusiasm taught a lesson 
which will never be out of date. The true follower of 
Jesus will do his missionary work as he goes along, and 
with the clear-cut purpose of evangelizing the whole 
world. 

The simple resting at a well gave occasion for another 
significant declaration. Formalism in religion has a 
value, but a very subordinate one. Good religious 
habits help us, but after all are only a convenience. We 
cannot worship God in spirit and in truth by merely 
doing outward acts. If we could, worship would be 
much easier than it now is. The wonderful privilege 
and solemn responsibility of true spiritual worship lies 
in the fact that it brings the individual soul into the 
immediate presence of God and compels it to be per¬ 
fectly honest before Him. This leads to penitence, 
submission, trust, and to right views of truth and duty. 
Through it the human and the divine enter into fel¬ 
lowship, and the human goes forth into the battle of 
life, strong in the help which God gives. Such worship 
is the highest act of which man is capable. 


34 The Life of Christ 

Chapter 9.—Jesus in the Synagogue at Nazareth. 

Mt. 4:12-17; Lu. 3 :19, 20; 4:14-30; Jo. 4: 43-54. 

When Jesus reached Galilee He was once more in His 
real homeland, which promised to Him not only the 
seclusion which He apparently desired for a time, but 
the relative obscurity which a prophet’s own country 
proverbially affords. The people of Galilee were not 
likely to overrate one who was everywhere known as a 
citizen of Nazareth. Because of the deeds which many 
of them had witnessed, they were disposed, on the other 
hand, to give candid and friendly consideration to His 
claims. 

That He had met with discouraging results from the 
ministry in Judea argued nothing regarding the future. 
Judea and Galilee were in many respects as distinct as 
England and the United States. They had much in 
common, but differed widely. The Galileans were more 
enterprising, more responsive to that which was fresh 
and new, less dominated by the hierarchy. King Herod 
was keen to protect his political interests, but was in¬ 
different toward technical questions of religion, and slow 
to lend himself to Pharisaic plottings. The Sanhedrin 
could act only under his authority. All the conditions 
in Galilee favored an unhampered and straightforward 
appeal to the people. 

Students of the active life of Jesus are puzzled to de¬ 
termine the actual sequence of events at the very begin¬ 
ning of the Galilean ministry, prior to the call of the 
four disciples at Capernaum. The fourth Gospel seems 
to ascribe to this period the incident of the healing of 
the nobleman’s son, while the Gospel according to Luke 
inserts a visit to Nazareth. 

That Jesus adopted Capernaum as His home in place 
of Nazareth is fully attested. The fourth Gospel sug¬ 
gests (2:12) that this choice was made before Jesus 
went up to Jerusalem for the first passover. In any 
case the decisive reasons for the change were the size, 


Chapter 9. Jesus at Nazareth 


35 


natural importance and convenient location of Ca¬ 
pernaum. It was much better suited to His needs as a 
headquarters. 

If Jesus made two visits to Nazareth and twice healed 
a young lad who was very dear to a military officer at 
Capernaum, then beyond question these two incidents 
belong to the early portion of His stay in Galilee. So 
thoroughly do the narratives of Matthew (ch. 8) and 
Luke (ch. 7) of the healing of the centurion’s servant 
differ in detail from that of John concerning the heal¬ 
ing of the son of the nobleman that they appear to refer 
to distinct occurrences. Regarding two visits to Naz¬ 
areth there is much less assurance. There can be no 
doubt that Jesus went to Nazareth later on in His min¬ 
istry, as attested by Matthew 13 and Mark 6. But many 
scholars, including such judicious interpreters as Bruce 
and Rhees, are inclined to think that Luke inserted the 
story of the visit to Nazareth at the beginning of his 
description of the active ministry in Galilee, not because 
it belonged there historically, but because it fitted 
in illustratively, giving an admirable exhibition 
of the method of Jesus in His public synagogue minis¬ 
try and of the deep impression which He everywhere 
made. 

Each episode is less an account of historical fact than 
the exhibit of a personality. They were “signs” indeed 
of the depth and sweetness of the heart of Jesus, and of 
His power over men. Rulers and people alike submitted 
to His spell, when in His presence. They wondered at 
His unselfish goodness. 

The healing of the son of the royal officer of Caper¬ 
naum revealed more than the power which Jesus could 
wield; it showed His anxiety to get at a man’s inmost 
nature. He avoided publicity or any spectacular dis¬ 
play or even personal recognition. His one desire was 
to awaken a belief in the power and goodness of God. 
When once convinced that the officer was docile and 
trustful, throwing himself on God’s mercy, Jesus 
granted his prayer. 


36 


The Life of Christ 


The visit to the synagogue was, no doubt, like many 
a visit before and after it. The synagogue was an 
agency providentially made ready to His hand, ideal for 
His purposes. It originated centuries away during the 
Babylonian exile, when the Jewish captives, unable to 
sacrifice at the temple, formed the custom of assem¬ 
bling together regularly for the reading and interpreta¬ 
tion of Scripture and for related religious exercises. 
Thus quickly grew up a patriotic and religious institu¬ 
tion of great significance, a distinct contribution to the 
permanence, unity and intelligence of Judaism. The 
synagogue became the working center of Jewish village 
life. The re-establishment of the temple only increased 
its usefulness. It was meeting house, school and forum 
all in one. It fostered intelligence, upheld religion, 
and furnished a democratic rallying place. The syna¬ 
gogue was controlled by the community in which it was 
placed, was frequented by all but the outcast popula¬ 
tion, and really afforded a free and fair platform for 
one who had a message for the people to which they 
were willing to listen. During the first half of the min¬ 
istry of Jesus He was able to make effective use of the 
synagogues, thus appealing squarely to the people. 

Luke’s story of the day which Jesus spent at Nazareth 
is noteworthy alike for its interesting details of a syna¬ 
gogue service, for its charm as a narrative of His active 
life, and for its skilful sketch of the gracious personality 
of Jesus. It takes high rank in a Gospel which in¬ 
cludes many passages of unusual beauty and impres¬ 
siveness. The reader is invited to realize the power of 
the appeal which Jesus made to men in His synagogue 
preaching. The fact that it was at His boyhood home 
heightens the effect. Under ordinary circumstances 
this would be an advantage, but He found it otherwise. 
His old neighbors were prejudiced against Him, the son 
of their carpenter. But prejudiced or not, they listened 
to Him with beating hearts. 

Invited to speak in the synagogue Jesus made an une¬ 
quivocal declaration of His Messiahship, using the pas- 


Chapter 9. Jesus at Nazareth 


37 


sage in Isaiah 61 which every auditor would interpret 
Messianically. His audience felt the spell of His per¬ 
sonality, but betrayed two dominant emotions, a sense 
of His presumption and a 
desire to see some wonders. 

Of a willingness to freely ac¬ 
cept Him on His proffered 
basis they showed no trace. 

And when He reminded 
them that God’s grace and 
power were not bestowed on 
men because of their birth, 
but only as they gave occa¬ 
sion for their manifestation 
to men, the angry villagers 
would have thrust Him over 
the cliff. 

There is a tragic element 
in this incident which finds 
a parallel in everyday life. 

The people of Nazareth 
were their own worst ene¬ 
mies. They might have been the closest allies of Jesus, 
often welcoming Him to their midst. They might have 
stood next to the Twelve in His affection and in His un¬ 
reserved revelation of Himself. They excluded them¬ 
selves from this supremely great and blessed privilege 
by unreasoning prejudice and stubborn unwillingness to 
yield to the force of truth. 

No folly is so great or so far-reaching in its conse¬ 
quences as a stubborn refusal to face religious facts. As 
well might one seek to avoid an avalanche by preventing 
himself from hearing the roar of its descent. He who 
takes the attitude of the men of Nazareth deliberately 
dwarfs his life, decreases his power, and dishonors his 
personality. 



Precipice near Nazareth. 

Four places near Nazareth are point¬ 
ed out as the Mount of Precipitation. 
The rock in the picture is nearest the 
city and is probably the correct one. 








38 The Life of Christ 

Chapter 10.—The Call of the Four. 

Mt. 4:13-16; Mk. 1:16-45; Lu. 5: 1-11. 

Capernaum on the Galilean lake was a natural and 
for many reasons a strategic center for the activity which 
Jesus planned to begin. With a large population, 
drawn from every quarter by the opportunities for trade, 
it was flanked in each direction by an almost uninter¬ 
rupted series of towns and villages which nearly encir¬ 
cled the lake. A constant traffic was carried on with 
other parts of the country over the great highways which 
centered at Capernaum or passed through it. Unlike 
such cities as the Csssareas it was thronged with Jews 
who made it their home. Jesus had right at hand all 
Galilee, probably all Palestine, in miniature. Here He 
began His work and to it as His home He repeatedly 
returned. 



The Shore at Khan ninyeh. 

The weight of opinion favors Khan Minyeh as the probable site of Capernaum, 
although many locate it two and a half miles north of Tell Hum. 

(Cut from‘‘Leeper photographs,” copyright, 1902. Courtesy of Hammond Publishing Co., 
Milwaukee.) 


The exact site of this city, so closely associated with 
the Master’s life, cannot be known to-day with absolute 
assurance. It was on the northwestern shore of the lake 
at a point which favored both the active trade by land 
and the fishing industry on its teeming waters. It 





Chapter 10. The Call of the Four 


39 


was a useful and usable location for carrying out the 
plans of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew our attention 
is called to a striking coincidence. By the settlement of 
Jesus at Capernaum the hope of Isaiah was given a no¬ 
table fulfilment. The region which once sat in despair¬ 
ing gloom was now to be illumined by Him who was the 
Light of life. 

Beaching Capernaum again, Jesus at once bethought 
Himself of those companions who had given Him their 
fealty on the banks of the Jordan and had shown in 
full measure their reliability and intelligence. They 
had apparently returned to their homes and wonted 
round of duties, awaiting, perhaps, the beginning of 
His ministry in their neighborhood. The quickness 
with which they understood and accepted His call to 
permanent discipleship with all that it implied in those 
days is an indication that they were not wholly taken 
by surprise. On the other hand, it would be surprising, 
for even such a remarkable judge of character as Jesus, 
to summon in quick succession four men, on whom His 
glance had barely rested, to a position of intimacy and 
far-reaching influence. The story of the fourth Gospel 
is quite essential to the probability of the other nar¬ 
ratives. 

The story of Luke is supplemental to that of Matthew 
and Mark. It implies that He had begun the work of 
preaching and healing in the city and was already 
thronged by an eager multitude, when He drew near His 
former followers. After making use of Peter’s boat as 
a pulpit. He bade His host resume his accustomed 
employment. Peter had been hard at work all night to 
no purpose, but he willingly responded to the suggestion 
of his beloved leader. With Jesus as a partner the 
catch of fish was astounding. Both Peter and his help¬ 
ers were deeply stirred. They saw beyond the mere 
yield of fish. They felt that Jesus had more than a 
passing purpose in this gracious act. It was an acted 
parable of resourcefulness and invitation. Peter could 
not but declare himself unworthy of such a leader; yet 


40 


The Life of Christ 


with unreserving and instant loyalty he and his friends 
accepted the definite words of invitation, which were 
also a promise of larger serviceableness. 

Of the busy, successful life that ensued the Gospel of 
Mark gives us a vivid glimpse. It bears testimony to 
the multitudes who were attracted by the words and 
deeds of the new Teacher. They met Him everywhere 
—by the shore of the lake, at His home, in the syna¬ 
gogue. They followed Him up, eager to listen to His 
stirring message about the heavenly kingdom and to see 
His gracious deeds. Upon these throngs He made a tre¬ 
mendous impression. No religious leader whom they 
had known had been like Jesus. Instead of repeating 
the opinions of the learned interpreters of Judaism, as 
the scribes were wont to do, Jesus actually declared in a 
straightforward way His own views of truth and ap¬ 
pealed for confirmation to their own spiritual judg¬ 
ments. He dared to assert His independence and to 
assume authority for Himself. It was revolutionary, 
but attractive. 

When He not only taught them in words which made 
a strong and direct appeal to their spiritual selves, but 
demonstrated His power over the various forms of 
bodily or mental disease current among the people, their 
enthusiasm knew no bounds. The whole city was 
stirred. Its citizens vied in expressing their joy at His 
welcome presence among them, and in spreading the 
news far and wide. The experiences of one Sabbath day 
in the city illustrate the pressure upon Him from all 
sides, partly because of need, partly because of curiosity. 

The people of Capernaum would have gladly kept 
Him in their midst, but He had broader plans. His 
brief stay had impressed His personality and His mes¬ 
sage upon them. Other communities needed Him more. 
So despite their entreaties He departed to make a tour 
of the Galilean villages. Everywhere the synagogues 
were open to Him, and His words and deeds produced 
the same mingled effect of awe and enthusiasm. The 
throngs increased in size and pertinacity, until it became 


Chapter 10. The Call of the Four 41 

almost impossible for Jesus to continue His work in the 
towns. 

The narrative of Mark gives us two characteristic 
facts about J esus. In the first place He had to go away 
pontinually by Himself to commune in prayer with God. 
Ho one was ever so dependent on God as Jesus. He 
was never too busy or too weary to find time for prayer. 
It was the source of His wonderful confidence, balance 
and insight. Is it wrong to suppose that even He 
sought to be strengthened against the temptations of 
great popularity ? Again He adopted from the outset a 
policy of reserve and silence regarding His miracles, 
avoiding as far as feasible all notoriety. The disobedi¬ 
ence of the grateful and thoughtless leper, who had been 
healed of his repulsive malady, only drove Jesus away 
from the haunts of men. He healed men because of 
their need, not to exhibit His power. He was anxious 
to make no other impression than a spiritual one. 

There is an instructive contrast between the numbers 
who seemed to desire to see J esus and the few whom He 
could make into loyal and efficient disciples. The 
crowds had after all a selfish purpose. They were 
curious to see the strange Teacher or desirous of some 
sort of advantage for themselves. They readily melted 
away and could not be depended upon. There was little 
or no response to a fine and true religious leadership, 
such as made Peter, Andrew, James and John into po¬ 
tential apostles. These four far outweighed in real im¬ 
portance to Jesus the hundreds or thousands who made 
up the crowded assemblies which seemed so anxious to 
get near Him. Perfunctory, unreliable, nominal al¬ 
legiance to Christ is the greatest weakness of the Chris¬ 
tian church to-day. Those whom He uses in His ex¬ 
alted service and favors with intimacy are the few who 
deliberately but gladly make personal response to His 
call. 


42 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 11 .—The Beginning of Pharisaic Opposition in 
Galilee. 

Mk. 2:1-22. 

The early days of the Galilean ministry may well 
have been days of almost unalloyed delight to Jesus. 
He had free scope for His work of preaching and heal¬ 
ing; great numbers were eager to be near Him. He 
suffered only because of the thoughtlessness of those 
who were His grateful and friendly followers. Under 
such conditions He would not spare Himself. Sheer 
bodily collapse was all that would bring Him to a pause 
in His gracious work of friendly appeal. 

Naturally, with His outspoken ideas concerning the 
kingdom that ought to be, this idyllic situation could 
not long continue. He had to deal with more than an 
impressionable and ready populace. These were accus¬ 
tomed to be guided in their religious ideas by the scribes 
and honored members of the Pharisaic party, whose 
views were diametrically opposed to those which Jesus 
held. Their expected kingdom was a national affair, 
membership in it being gained by birth or adoption 
into Judaism; His was a universal brotherhood of serv¬ 
ice with moral and spiritual conditions only. They 
regarded religion as best safeguarded by a strict system 
of rules for daily life; He aimed to secure holiness by 
inculcating true standards and motives and desires. 
They were scrupulous about the appearance of things; 
He about their reality. Necessarily His words aroused 
questionings and disputes; His deeds were yet more dis¬ 
quieting. 

The rapid succession of His deeds of healing aroused 
a popular furor. Naturally they likewise gave Him 
standing as a religious authority, although their value 
was not, perhaps, as an attestation of His words so 
much as an exhibit of His personality. Judging less 
from the meager detail of the narratives than from the 
uniform habit of His life, we may declare with confi¬ 
dence that Jesus continually emphasized the healings as 


Chapter 11. Beginnings of Opposition 43 

a manifestation of the love and goodness of God, who 
was helping human-kind through Him. They were not 
personal triumphs of power but divine acts of grace. 
In any case, however, these deeds gave authority to His 
declarations, and made Him a public rival of the Phar¬ 
isaic party as a director of the public conscience. 

The Gospel of Mark with dramatic skill introduces us 
to this second inevitable stage of the active ministry. 
After making clear the tremendous popularity of Jesus 
it groups together in the second chapter a series of inci¬ 
dents which exhibit the growing irritation of the re¬ 
ligious leaders of Judaism and its varied causes. These 
did not probably happen in immediate succession. Their 
grouping emphasizes the importance of the fact that the 
words and deeds of Jesus brought Him very quickly into 
open conflict with the leaders. 

Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus had come back to 
Capernaum after a busy tour of the villages of Galilee. 
So much interest had He aroused that, according to 
Luke, the Pharisees, alert to any religious movement, 
had flocked from every direction, even from Judea, to 
see and hear Him. Naturally their mood was critical 
rather than receptive, for He was not of their accus¬ 
tomed kind. Four sorts of proof of this were soon 
forthcoming. 

The first came unexpectedly during a crowded service 
at His unpretentious abode in Capernaum. He was 
earnestly engaged in preaching to a throng which 
blocked every ingress, when four resolute men arrived 
with a paralytic to whom they had evidently promised a 
successful interview with the Master. Unable to get the 
patient through the crowd, and doubtless aware by ex¬ 
perience that those who postponed seeing Him some¬ 
times lost their golden opportunity, the four friends 
opened the roof and lowered the paralytic to the floor in 
front of Jesus. This unusual act exhibited their ear¬ 
nestness and confidence, always irresistible qualities 
with Jesus. With a touch of tenderness He told the 
cripple that he might start his life anew on a nobler 


44 


The Life of Christ 


basis. His declaration was technically blasphemous to 
a religious thinker of the day, but only when taken with 
blind literalness. However, Jesus accepted their chal¬ 
lenge and again 
demonstrated that 
God had given Him 
the right to assert a 
religious independ¬ 
ence. 

The second bit of 
evidence was less 
perplexing. J esus 

ignored their social 
conventions. By com¬ 
mon consent and, in 
the main, for ex¬ 
cellent reasons, the 
Jewish collectors of taxes were held in great abhorrence. 
For a Pharisee to hold converse with one of them would 
expose him to severe penalties, if not to excommunica¬ 
tion. The “publicans” referred to in the New Testa¬ 
ment were the Jews who were willing to serve as direct 
gatherers of the revenues from the people. They were 
generally extortionate, unpatriotic and irreligious. 
One man classed as a publican J esus summoned to disci- 
pleship. Matthew had, no doubt, listened to Jesus 
more than once, and was ready to follow Him if given a 
chance. He was an exceptional man, and may have 
merely been a collector of business imposts, a species of 
tax less odious to the Jews than those levied directly. 
In any case Jesus saw His possibilities and invited him 
to become an associate. It was an extremely unphari- 
saic act, but one which spoke volumes concerning the 
range of the sympathies of Jesus. 

This testimony He enforced by accepting His new 
disciple’s invitation to a feast. It may have been a 
testimonial of gratitude; for Matthew it was an act of 
emancipation for his circle of friends. That publicans 
and sinners were fit subjects for social sympathy and 


















Chapter 11. Beginnings of Opposition 45 

religious uplift was a revolutionary idea in the Judaism 
of the day. They were religious outcasts, forbidden the 
privileges of the synagogue; made to feel that they had 
forfeited the grace of God. When Jesus deliberately 
called one of them as an intimate disciple and sat down 
at a friendly banquet with many more, it was a virtual 
declaration on His part that He would preach the serv¬ 
ice of God to every human being capable of receiving 
His message, barred by no conventions or scruples which 
others entertained. His answer to the indignant pro¬ 
test of the Pharisees was the plea that as a preacher of 
the goodness of God He was to be guided, not by attrac¬ 
tiveness, but by need. 

The fourth proof had to do with fasting. The Law 
prescribed one fast each year on the great Day of Atone¬ 
ment, but the strict Pharisees fasted twice a week. 
John and his disciples sympathized with this practice. 
Jesus rather ignored the custom and thereby aroused 
unfavorable comment. His defense was that fasting 
truly expresses a feeling of sadness, and is incongruous 
in case of joy. His message was one of hope. It 
sought forms of expression which fitted its freedom and 
fulness of life. Until His followers had reason for 
sadness there was no sense in their mourning. 

Jesus hereby declared a great principle of religious 
life. At all costs it must be real and genuine. What¬ 
ever forms it takes must be the expression of actual 
sentiment. Christianity regulates conduct, not by rules 
and forms but by motives based on principles. In so 
far as our religious life is mechanical and formal, to 
that degree is it unreligious. Good habits of procedure 
are of untold value, but a meaningless custom cannot 
save a soul. 

Another great principle was involved in His social 
intercourse with the friends of Matthew. The Christian 
may have his preferences among men, he may select a 
few for his intimate associates: he is hound, however, 
to regard the whole human world as within his range 
of helpful service. 


46 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 12.—The Sabbath Question. 

Mk. 2:23—3:6; Jo. 5:1-18. 


Excited as the Jewish leaders became over the indif¬ 
ference of Jesus to their prejudices or customs, they 
might not have declared enmity against Him had He 
not ignored one of the dearest conventions of their sys¬ 
tem of religion, the reverence due to the sanctity of the 
Sabbath day. That He denounced the popular senti¬ 
ment as a spurious, useless reverence unworthy the 
name, confusing real Sabbath keeping with that which 
was but a mockery of it, made no impression on these 
leaders of Judaism. They concluded that He was un¬ 
alterably hostile to all that they considered most worth 
the while, or else criminally careless in His obedience; 
and they determined to put an end to His influence. 

From Jewish writings an impressive idea is conveyed 
of the minuteness and multiplicity of the regulations 
through which the scribes sought to prevent the break¬ 
ing of the fourth commandment. By a careful inter¬ 
pretation of the relevant passages in the Law they con¬ 
structed a list of thirty-nine acts forbidden on the Sab¬ 
bath. But these were only a sort of foundation. Each 
prohibited action served as a type for an endless number 
of other acts which were by analogy unlawful. Heaping 
and threshing were regarded as forbidden by the law, 
although plucking the ears of standing grain was not. 
After long debate it was decided that plucking the ears 
and rubbing them with the hands to get out the grain 
was a sort of reaping and threshing, and hence unper¬ 
missive on the Sabbath. Carrying burdens from one 
abode to another was forbidden, but one who desired for 
some reason to have freedom of action on the Sabbath 
within a certain area could make it constructively his 
abode by depositing food, before the Sabbath, at various 
points within it. Such subterfuges, all too common, re¬ 
vealed the whole structure of Sabbath legislation to be a 
"casuistical labyrinth” with no outlet of principle. To 
those who were religiously minded and earnestly set 


Chapter 12. The Sabbath Question 47 

themselves to obey the Law, it was a grievous yoke. The 
Sabbath day became a time of anxiety akin to torture, 
or else of dull and lifeless torpor. Those who cared 
only to keep it technically had a thousand ways of evad¬ 
ing its extreme restraints. 

Jesus recognized and honored conscientiousness even 
as to matters in themselves trifling; but His “faithful¬ 
ness in that which is least” was never an unreasoning 
fidelity to senseless rules. He appealed always against 
such customs to a sanctified common sense, pointing out 
the real end which was to be gained by the original 
commandment and advising action which most directly 
would achieve it. 

With the two instances of collision with Pharisaic 
ideas regarding the Sabbath, so representative in char¬ 
acter and important in their teaching that each synoptic 
writer included them at this stage of his narrative of the 
active ministry of Jesus, we may include the incident at 
the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem as related in John 5. 
Jesus had gone to Jerusalem on one of those journeys of 
which Luke 13:22 gives a hint, at the time of a feast 
which cannot he surely identified. It probably hap¬ 
pened not long before or after the incidents in Galilee. 

Passing by the well-known pool Jesus saw a helpless 
cripple, whose plight aroused His pitying sympathy. 
Encouraging him and challenging his faith, Jesus com¬ 
manded the man to walk home with his sleeping-mat, 
not to exhibit his strength but in token of his new¬ 
found freedom. Charged with the serious offence of 
Sabbath-breaking, he excused himself by declaring that 
the one who healed him had commanded him to do so. 
The religious leaders then had a valid objection to Jesus 
which they pressed. His defense that God’s idea of a 
Sabbath was not such as to prevent the continuance of 
His active Providence, and that He was only following 
the Divine example, simply aroused their fury. They 
challenged His right to declare God’s will and ways, 
thus calling forth from Jesus a noble assertion of His 
faithful yet unique harmony with the purposes of God 


48 


The Life of Christ 


and the abundant witness available regarding Himself. 

A passing incident in Galilee gave occasion for 
another notable saying. As He and His disciples were 
walking through a field of grain, some of them plucked 
a few ears and rubbed out the grains in order to eat 



Reservoir near the Church of Birket Israel, near St. Stephen's 

St. Anne, in Jerusalem. date, Jerusalem. 

There is much uncertainty regarding the site of the pool of Bethesda. Some 
identify it with the deep reservoir near the church of St. Anne; others connect it 
with “ Birket Israel,” both of which are shown above. Others identify it with the 
Virgin’s pool, on the southern slope of the temple mount, near the brook Kidron. 

them. This gathering and eating was not in itself ob¬ 
jectionable, but, taking place on the Sabbath, it was re¬ 
garded as a sort of reaping and threshing, and hence 
unlawful. Jesus met Pharisaic criticism by an ad 
hominem argument. He cited the well-known case of 
David and the customary duty of the priesthood to show 
that Sabbatic law had often to give way to higher 
interests, then claiming that in the interest of man¬ 
kind He was truly interpreting and using the Sabbath. 

The cure of the man with the withered hand afforded 
another striking instance of the complete separation 
between Jesus and the religious leaders of Judaism on 
this Sabbath question. The latter were constantly on 












Chapter 12. The Sabbath Question 


49 


the watch for new occasions for criticism. The incident 
illustrated happily the scope of the principle of human 
need asserted by Jesus. The man could have waited 
another day without injury, hence his case alforded a 
good test. The throng watched Jesus closely to see 
whether He would deliberately heal the man on the holy 
day. He appealed to their religious common sense, a 
truly novel way of settling religious disputes in that 
day! As Rhees remarks, He was “for His generation the 
great discoverer of the conscience” and the champion 
of its dignity against traditional practice. “Would you 
not do,” said He, “as much for a man as for a sheep ?” 
and healed the man. The stubborn antagonism of the 
Pharisees was stirred to madness by this cool defiance 
of their traditions. They lost no time in plotting His 
destruction. 

With the Pharisaic party in Galilee actively opposed 
to Him His difficulties were greatly increased. They 
had the power of setting the public mind against Him. 
They would undo His work as fast as He could develop 
it. They were organized while He stood virtually 
alone. The people still thronged to hear Him and be 
healed, yet their loyalty was not to be relied upon. In 
order to make His efforts count for the utmost and to 
secure at least a few who would really understand Him, 
He found it necessary to choose a company of picked 
disciples with whom He could hold intimate com¬ 
panionship. The second stage of Pharisaic hostility 
directly caused the third and most fruitful act of His 
ministry—the choice of the Twelve. 

The Christian conception of the Sabbath is not an 
abrogation of the fourth commandment but its true 
and fruitful interpretation. The Sabbath should stand 
for freedom of life, the free service and worship of God, 
and free service toward men. It is God’s day and hence 
justifies and claims whatever will bring mankind closer 
to God. It is man’s day too, and must be intelligently 
used for man’s highest welfare. It is a day of rest from 
life’s vocation in the interest of a fuller and richer hu- 


50 


The Life of Christ 


man existence. Fitly did the early Church name the 
Christian equivalent of the Sabbath the Lord's day, for 
it was Jesus Himself who gave it significance and de¬ 
clared its value. 

The Christian Sunday cannot be kept sacred by rules. 
They inevitably tend to magnify the letter to the exclu¬ 
sion of the spirit of obedience. At all costs the reverse 
should become true. The Sabbatic law was given, not 
in order that Sabbaths should be forever kept, but to 
promote the higher spiritual welfare of man. Hence 
the true observance of the seventh day demands only an 
honest scrupulousness, by each generation for itself, to 
use it in such a way as will further the spiritual inter¬ 
ests of society and keep men consciously in close rela¬ 
tionship with God. 


Chapter 13.—The Beginnings of the Active Hlnistry of 
Jesus. A Review. 

Our studies in the active ministry of Jesus have 
reached a definite turning-point. Because of the influ¬ 
ence of the Pharisees over the common people it became 
necessary for Jesus at this time to adopt a new method 
in His ministry which considerably altered its emphasis. 
Before entering upon the period which this new method 
distinguished, it is desirable to survey the progress of 
the life of Jesus from its beginning to the development 
and manifestation of rancorous hatred by the Phar¬ 
isaic party. 

The events which have been considered in turn were 
those of the infancy and youth of Jesus, and of His 
growth to manhood, His long, silent preparation for 
ideal serviceableness, the public preaching of John the 
Baptist, the appearance of Jesus at the Jordan and His 
recognition by John, His baptism and temptation, the 



Chapter 13. Review 


51 


introduction to Jesus by John of His four best disciples, 
their free choice of J esus. His entrance on His ministry. 
His manifestation of Himself to the nation at Jeru¬ 
salem, His further ministry of preaching, healing and 
baptism in Judea, the suggestive episode in Samaria, the 
selection of Capernaum as a permanent abode, the initi¬ 
ation of an active ministry in Galilee by the call of the 
four to become His permanent followers, the conduct in 
the synagogues of Galilee of a swiftly popular ministry 
of preaching and healing, and the certain consequence 
of such popularity on the part of such a religious leader 
—namely, all manner of criticism from the perplexed 
and anxious Pharisees, leading gradually to a position 
of deliberate hostility to Jesus and to a determination 
to prevent Him from continuing His work among the 
people. 

The portion of this period succeeding the appearance 
of John the Baptist at the Jordan included the details 
of chief importance in this survey. Its chronology is 
one of the unsettled problems for the student of the Gos¬ 
pels and of the life of Jesus. There is scarcely any dif¬ 
ference of opinion among those who seek to unify our 
available testimony to the life and words of Jesus re¬ 
garding the chronology of the remainder of the active 
ministry. A month or two less than two years is al¬ 
lowed for the events from the choice of the Twelve to 
the crucifixion. The question in debate relates to the 
length of the earlier period, the one under review. Was 
it a little more than a year in length, or only ten or 
twelve weeks? The data in the Gospels are insufficient 
to determine this positively. Each student must de¬ 
termine for himself whether the shorter time could have 
been adequate, not merely for the performance of the 
acts narrated, but for the development implied. Good 
scholars differ in judgment on this problem of chronol¬ 
ogy. Many hold to a three years’ active ministry for 
the principal reason that no briefer period seems ade¬ 
quate for all that Jesus accomplished. This is the view 
adopted in the lessons on which these notes are based. 


52 


The Life of Christ 


Others regard a two-years’ ministry as sufficient. Those 
who thus differ in opinion on this point concur in ac¬ 
cepting the facts of the life of Jesus as given in the 
Gospels. 

To this early portion of the life of Jesus the Gospel 
writers devoted on the whole the least space. True to 
the promise of its prologue, the third Gospel gave fullest 
attention to the available data of the period prior to the 
appearance of John the Baptist, while the first Gospel 
contributed details which foreshadowed the glory of 
Him who was to be His people’s awaited leader. Apart 
from these details, peculiarly appropriate to each, and 
from those added from the fourth Gospel, relating to 
His first meeting with the Four and their rapid growth 
in fellowship and insight, and to the events of His Ju¬ 
dean ministry, the stirring story of the beginnings of the 
ministry in Galilee is most fully related in the terse but 
vivid narrative of Mark. Neither this Gospel nor the 
others relate one-tenth of what happened during these 
busy weeks. Each contributes its impression of the 
Master in His active career. 

The Gospel of Matthew seems to lay emphasis on the 
work itself, its diversity of character, its adequacy and 
representativeness. It was the development of a pro¬ 
gram by one who was a true leader, a divine program, 
however, and a leader who exhibited Messiahship in 
whatever He said or did. The Gospel of Mark conveys 
rather the tremendous impression made by the personal¬ 
ity of Jesus, by His sincerity, unselfishness, straight¬ 
forwardness and self-confidence, and the undoubtable 
power He wielded. He was one who achieved things, 
yet not by robbing others of their rights but by enlist¬ 
ing their co-operation in His noble aims and by reliev¬ 
ing their troubles and lifting off the burden of their 
sins. He was a great Leader of men. The Gospel of 
Luke dwells in many little ways on the breadth and 
depth of the gracious love of Jesus for men, as it ex¬ 
pressed itself by deed and word, whether to His envious 
neighbors of Nazareth, or to a disciple paying Him in- 


Chapter 13. Review 


53 


voluntary but heartfelt tribute, or to those who would 
limit His ministry to the respectable synagogue fre¬ 
quenters of Galilee. A burning passion for human 
beings and for their complete salvation and a patience 
which stood every test but that of limitation, an energy 
and forcefulness which routed all opposition, a sim¬ 
plicity of address and winsomeness of manner which 
attracted even the most timid auditor, a self-confidence 
which puzzled all the people and gave offense to the 
Pharisees, and a mastery of the situation which enabled 
Jesus for a time to go His way unmolested, although 
by His defiance of Pharisaic prejudice He aroused a 
formidable hostility among them against Him and all 
who followed Him—these are the lines of the portrait 
drawn for us by His loving friends. They invite several 
remarks regarding His own purposes during this period. 

It seems quite clear that Jesus gave no indication of 
uncertainty regarding Himself or of indecision regard¬ 
ing His policy. That those around Him, disciples and 
Pharisees alike, held varying views concerning Him is 
evident. Every one of them had been trained from 
boyhood to conceptions- which made it difficult for the 
most honest-minded among them to understand Jesus as 
a Messiah. He puzzled them. He fitted the part in 
some respects but not at all in others. They all needed 
education. There is no evidence that Jesus did. From 
the outset of the ministry He knew Himself, His policy 
and His aims. 

In spite of this clear consciousness regarding Himself 
and His work, He kept His personal claims in the back¬ 
ground during this early period. He avoided publicity 
and, even more carefully, notoriety. It was enough for 
Him at present to be known as the good and helpful 
Prophet of God from Nazareth, who went everywhere 
doing good in God’s name, and proclaiming a message 
of repentance from selfishness and sin and of prepara¬ 
tion for the kingdom of heaven. It was John’s message 
presented more persuasively and at first hand. 

He was evidently desirous that all Galilee should heat 


54 


The Life of Christ 

•this message as formulated by Him, and be brought 
face to face with the appeal of the kingdom. He spared 
no energy, lost no opportunity, avoided no responsibility 
which could contribute to this result. It was a work in 
the large, a dealing with people in the mass, a work of 
impression rather than of education. He could not 
visit every synagogue in Galilee, but following such 
methods He could rely upon having preached to an 
auditor or two from every synagogue. Before Phari¬ 
saic hostility had reached a climax, all Galilee was talk¬ 
ing about Him, His message and His deeds. 

Thousands held Him in awe, a few feared Him, a 
growing group gave Him their confidence. He still per¬ 
plexed them, but they had no doubt that He was the 
kindliest, wisest, most resourceful and most Godlike 
man they had ever known. 


Chapter 14. The Choice of the Twelve. 

Mt. 12 :15-21; Mk. 3 : 7-19a; Lu. 6:12-19. 

A striking testimonial to the practical wisdom and 
self command of Jesus is afforded by His selection, at 
this time of popularity and conflict, of twelve men to be¬ 
come His constant and favored companions. While en¬ 
thusiastic throngs still surround Him, to hear His 
words and witness His deeds of gracious kindness, and 
He had every reason to exult in His independent power, 
He deliberately reserved His best self for a small body 
of chosen men. It was more than the impulsive act of 
a lonely leader, craving sympathetic associates, although 
no one ever felt the need of fellowship and friendship 
more than He; it was more than the attempt of one who 
realized the urgent need of the spreading abroad of the 
message about the kingdom of heaven to secure able as- 



Chapter liThe Choice- of the Twelve 55 

sistants for His campaign; it was a deliberate act exhib¬ 
iting profound insight, leading to a happy solution of 
the immediate problem of evangelization and of the 
more remote yet more important problem of the organ¬ 
ization and maintenance of the new society of men like- 
minded with Himself. 

It is interesting to note the varying explanations of 
this important action given in the Synoptic Gospels. It 
was too far-reaching and significant to be fully exhaust¬ 
ed by one narrator. Each evangelist seems impressed 
by that aspect of it which would appeal to those for 
whom he was writing. The Gospel according to Mat¬ 
thew calls attention to the multitudes and their eager¬ 
ness, to the great desire of Jesus to minister to their 
spiritual needs and leads us to infer that these men 
were summoned by Him because He desired a band of 
helpers so that He could press with greater vigor the 
great work of evangelization. The Gospel of Mark gives 
more businesslike reasons. It declares that Jesus chose 
the Twelve to be His companions, to aid Him in the 
growing work of preaching and healing the throngs 
who kept coming from every quarter, far outmatching 
the physical powers of one man, however gifted. The 
third Gospel, taking as usual the reflective standpoint 
of the second Christian generation, presents the action 
of Jesus in its truest light. It lets us know that the 
Master was deeply conscious of the importance of the 
occasion. Before He selected the Twelve from the 
larger group of devoted followers He spent the whole 
night alone in prayerful communion with God. We 
may reverently infer that He was pleading for clear¬ 
ness of vision and accuracy of judgment. He was about 
to inaugurate a new society, the new Christian brother¬ 
hood. The Twelve were to be its nucleus. 

The Gospel of Luke rightly pictured that day upon 
the mountain side as a momentous day in the active 
ministry of Jesus. It marked a real turning point. 
Jesus must have prepared for it not merely by a night 
of prayer but even more by days of reflection. He had 


56 


The Life of Christ 


seen that the rapidly growing enmity of the Pharisees 
would soon embarrass His public work and, perhaps, 
bring it to an end. He met this difficulty with a policy 
that would enable Him to defy all such opposition and 
to triumph in spite of it. He would develop an inner 
circle of intimate associates who could reproduce His 
spirit and fulfil His mission. 

By this time His nominal following had become quite 
large. Men and women attended Him persistently and 
from every sort of motive. Here and there was one 
whom He had distinguished from the others by reason 
of some special gift or measure of usefulness. From 
such as these He seemingly made His selection of asso¬ 
ciates. They were men who had shown their devotion to 
Him and their enthusiasm for the work He was doing, 
men who in one form or another were of practical im¬ 
portance to Him. Luke (6:13) suggests that it was a 
deliberate selection, each man standing for some posi¬ 
tive value. The number chosen was, no doubt, sug¬ 
gested by the traditional symbolism of the Jewish race. 
No other number carried the same suggestion of repre¬ 
sentativeness to the Jewish mind. The Twelve were to 
stand for all Israel and thus for the whole human 
brotherhood. 

It is a matter of regret that a small group of these 
chosen Apostles overshadowed all the others, for each 
one of the Twelve must have been a marked personality, 
worthy of our careful study. Synoptic tradition cen¬ 
tered around the four and the ill-starred Judas Iscariot. 
Peter, John and James were the dominating members 
of the little company. Of them, of Matthew, and, 
thanks to the Gospel according to John, of Andrew and 
Philip, Bartholomew and Thomas, we have some con¬ 
ception. So far as we know them they represented quite 
distinct types, unified by the inspiring personality of 
their great leader. 

Their value did not depend uoon their social standing 
or influence. They represented, apparently, the hum¬ 
bler working class. It is only fair to say that in no 


Chapter 1J+. The Choice of the Twelve 57 

other nation than Israel was the matter of social rank 
of less importance. The Jewish people was truly dem¬ 
ocratic. Any man, however humble, could aspire to be¬ 
come a Eabbi, that is, to reach a position of enviable re¬ 
spect and importance. Every man, however noble in 
birth or wealth, was as a matter of principle taught a 
means of livelihood. Saul of Tarsus was probably of 
distinguished parentage, yet fortunately for his inde¬ 
pendence as a Teligious leader he was a skilful maker of 
tents. Not social position but teachableness and ability 
were the essential qualities of the members of this no¬ 
table band. 

Apostleship, like all other leadership, involved heavy 
responsibilities, and serious disadvantages. These men 
had a taste of the cross from the very outset. Had they 
not been willing to undergo the ostracism and peril of 
association with Jesus they would never have had the 
opportunity, for He needed men who could count the 
cost and ignore it. The full seriousness of the step they 
took was no more apparent to them than it is to most 
of those who deliberately ally themselves with unpopu¬ 
lar causes. But they were willing to endure whatever 
would bring them into association with Jesus. 

The discipleship of the cross, that is, the discipleship 
which includes devotion and self-sacrifice, which for 
Christ’s sake assumes the burden of that part of His 
kingdom which falls to one’s lot in life, and spares not 
itself for His sake, which derives its stability and en¬ 
ergy from a continuing sense of fellowship with Him, 
is the kind most needed in the Church to-day. It is in¬ 
deed the only discipleship that counts for much in the 
growth of His kingdom. 


58 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 15.—The Sermon on the Mount: Disciples, Their 
Rewards, Obligations, and Standards. 

Mt. ch. 5. 

Bruce has somewhere suggested that the Sermon on 
the Mount comes to the reader of the New Testament as 
a surprise. Nothing in the Gospels quite prepares us 
for such a transcendently great expression of important 
truth. The Gospels set forth the great impression 
which Jesus made on men who were keenly alive to spir¬ 
itual power; they describe the astonishment of the syna¬ 
gogue frequenter at His air of authority and His im¬ 
pressive speech; they alford many examples of His brief 
but forceful methods of presenting truth; yet, after all, 
the data thus obtained scarcely justify the expectation 
of such a discourse. 

This is accounted for by the fact that the Synoptic 
Gospels refer to the teaching or preaching of Jesus at 
the early stages of His ministry only in general terms. 
From the Gospel of Mark we know that His fame had 
already been spread abroad through His unremitting 
activity in synagogues oc Galilee, and that crowds, com¬ 
ing from distant quarters, were thronging about Him. 
Matthew recognizes the crowds without accounting for 
them. The sudden introduction of the Sermon in the 
first Gospel, after the call of the four disciples, gives 
the impression that its delivery was one of the earliest 
acts of the Galilean campaign. As a matter of fact, it 
followed an extended public experience in Galilee. 

The necessity for such an utterance as we find in Mat¬ 
thew 5-7 and Luke 6 is made clear when we remember 
what a new definition Jesus was gradually giving to the 
expected kingdom of God, and that it was a definite pop¬ 
ular expectation that when the Messiah came He would 
“renew the Law,” giving a clear and final interpreta¬ 
tion to its many obscurities. Jesus, as one who spoke 
with authority and not as the scribes, was in a sense 
bound to explain the nature of the kingdom and the 
character of its institutions and standards. 


Chapter 15. The Sermon on the Mount 59 

There are three good reasons for thinking that the 
discourse was addressed to the disciples who were quite 
close to Jesus rather than to the multitude. The Gos¬ 
pel of Mark prefaces the choice of the Twelve, which 
immediately preceded the Sermon, by indicating that 
Jesus avoided the multitude. The other two Gospels 
distinctly mention the disciples as those to whom He 
spoke, the multitudes forming a background. But the 
chief reason is the character of the Sermon. It is for 
those who already were in active sympathy with Him. 

The differences between the report of the discourse as 
found in Matthew and as given in Luke have led to 
many explanatory theories. It is generally admitted 
that the version found in the first Gospel includes some 
material not spoken at this exact time, but added for 
the sake of massing the teaching of Jesus into logical 
groups. It is also believed that the version found in the 
third Gospel has deliberately omitted certain parts of 
the original discourse. Luke’s readers cared nothing 
for merely Jewish details; they desired His positive, 
straightforward, universal teaching. To try and de¬ 
termine which version most clearly represents the dis¬ 
course which Jesus delivered is idle. Bruce suggests 
that each version is a condensed account of such por¬ 
tions of the lessons given to the disciples during a some¬ 
what extended periodic retirement from the exhausting 
campaign with the multitudes, as each Evangelist 
thought was valuable for his hearers. Jesus may have 
delivered many discourses, going over parallel ground 
and yet developing distinct themes, such as Pharisaic 
righteousness, prayer, covetousness, etc. 

It is commonly said that the Sermon on the Mount 
exhibits Jesus as a lawgiver. This is partly true. In 
form His utterances are legal. In reality the discourse 
is prophetic. “It does not lay down rules but opens up 
principles.” It reveals Jesus, not really as a casuist and 
legislator, but as a preacher of good tidings. He was 
not anxious to specify rules of conduct but to establish 
permanent principles of religion. He taught not as 


60 


The Life of Christ 


the scribes. They declared and applied the precepts of 
the law. Jesus was often asked to make similar declar¬ 
ations, for instance, in regard to tribute or divorce, but 
He refused to “sit on Moses ? seat” (Mt. 23 : 2, 3). His 
aim was edification, and His method an appeal to the 
conscience of man. He was distinctively a preacher. 

This greatest of recorded utterances is best understood 
as a deliberate and thoughtful attempt to state clearly 
the true spiritual values of the older law in terms which 
by contrast with the current phraseology would become 
clear. It was not an ordination discourse aimed ex¬ 
clusively at the Twelve, nor a set of ordinances for the 
new kingdom, nor merely an anti-Pharisaic manifesto. 
It counted in each of these ways, but was pre-eminently 
a reinterpretation of current ideas. 



Horns of Hattin, the Traditional Place of the Choosing of the 
Twelve and the Sermon on the Mount. 

(From “ Leeper photographs,” copyright, 1902. Hammond Publishing Co., Milwaukee.) 


The importance of the step now taken by Jesus was 
very great. He had gathered around Him a chosen 
band of loyal disciples, identified with Him and with 
His work. What He said to them was in no sense esoter¬ 
ic in character. His highest teaching was meant for 
the million. But He now taught His disciples that they 
might teach the world. He gave them a more organized 
and comprehensive grasp of the fundamental principles 
of action in the new kingdom which they were to advo¬ 
cate. He initiated their own thoughtful participation 




Chapter 15. The Sermon on the Mount 61 

in the considerations of its problems, particularly in a 
practical definition of righteousness. 

The Beatitudes emphasize the blessedness of those 
who, notwithstanding their seemingly disadvantageous 
circumstances, are yet true disciples. Their reward is 
not in the removal of present conditions but in heavenly 
happiness. They are judged solely on the basis of their 
actual character. 

But those who have such an outlook are responsible 
agents, who must exhibit an attitude of friendly helpful¬ 
ness to the world. They are in the world to redeem it 
and to illuminate its moral darkness. They are bound 
to be active and positive participants more than mere 
willing followers. 

But the most earnest disciples need clear views. 
Jesus must have been asked many times already how 
His followers were to act under certain circumstances. 
He refused to lay down exact laws, but went further by 
forbidding wrong states of mind. Pharisaic righteous¬ 
ness was content to so live as to avoid breaking any 
specific commandment. But Jesus, instead of prohibit¬ 
ing murder and slander, forbade the spirit of hatred; 
instead of prohibiting an adulterous act, forbade an 
impure thought; instead of prohibiting perjury, forbade 
all untruthfulness under any pretext; instead of limit¬ 
ing the right to retaliate, required a friendly attitude 
toward all oppressors; instead of a partial obligation of 
kindness, imposed an unlimited and universal obliga¬ 
tion. For each detail of casuistry He substituted a 
principle of life. 

Jesus made little of the advantages of discipleship. 
He was full of the thought of its opportunities and obli¬ 
gations. The righteousness of His day was contented 
by the fulfilment of specific commands. He set a far 
higher ideal of goodness, the continued manifestation 
under all circumstances of the spirit of loving obedience 
to God, and sincere devotion to His service. This is 
real Christlikeness. 


62 


The Life of Christ 

Chapter 16. The Sermon on the nount: Our Duty to 
God. 

Mt. ch. 6. 

Portions of the Sermon on the Monnt afford a fine 
illustration of the appropriate and telling forms with 
which Jesus was able to clothe His thoughts. He had 
the art of expressing Himself in phrases which could 
not be forgotten. The gift of sententious or figurative 
speech was much prized among the Jews. It was the 
characteristic accomplishment of the sages of Israel, 
those who aimed to influence men toward right views of 
life and conduct. They had to win a hearing in order 
to exert an influence and, even more than the prophets, 
they studied the art of beautiful and forceful expression. 

It has been said that the actual teaching of Jesus was 
in the form of brief and concise utterances rather than 
extended discourses. But Jesus was pre-eminently a 
preacher and was capable of varying the form of His 
declarations to suit the purpose before Him. The Gos¬ 
pels preserve many a pithy saying of His, many simili¬ 
tudes and parables and illustrations, each very perfect 
in its way. They likewise give evidence here and there 
of His skill in stately, impressive utterance. His eulogy 
on John the Baptist (Mt. 11: 7-19) or His discourse on 
The Sign of Jonah (Lu. 11: 29-32) are striking exam¬ 
ples of-rhetorical power. The latter half of the fifth 
chapter of Matthew, beginning with verse 21, exhibits a 
dignified rhythmic series of antithetical statements 
which reveal the effectiveness and impressiveness of the 
discourse of Jesus when He had occasion. 

The rhetorical beauty is noticeable also in portions of 
the sixth chapter. Any careful reader may note three 
stanzas, relating respectively to almsgiving, prayer, and 
fasting, each concluding with the refrain, “and thy 
Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.” 
The addition of the explanatory words about true prayer 
(vss. 7-15) breaks in upon the poetical sequence but 
does not destroy it. 


Chapter 16. The Sermon on the Mount 6S 

After discussing the royal law of life which should 
be governed by far-reaching principles rather than by 
exact rules of conduct, the thought of the discourse 
turns to the maintenance of the spiritual character of 
wmrship. The religious leaders of the day—the Phar¬ 
isees—were ostentatious and theatrical in their religious 
practice, making a vulgar parade of scrupulousness. 
Jesus did not censure the extreme care to perform all 
prescribed duties nor even their prompt performance 
at the stated time, but the tendency to make a show of 
piety. Such theatrical virtue does not count in God’s 
sight; He regards only the inner motive of a man. It 
may be doubted whether even a typical Pharisee 
actually had a trumpet blown when he was ready to 
bestow an alms. The phrase in the second verse must 
be metaphorical. But they were great “actors” and 
loved to draw large houses to witness their bounty. It 
was this hateful pride that Jesus condemned. He 
neither approved nor condemned almsgiving as a habit 
or duty. The spirit of both the Old Testament and of 
the New supports it as a privilege over which one need 
be neither complacent nor self-conscious. 

The significance of the second example of Pharisaic 
practice is exhibited by an acquaintance with the prayer 
customs of the East. Prayer in the rituals of Jew and 
Mohammedan alike is reduced to a system, with special 
petitions at stated intervals, much stress being laid on the 
exact observance of prescribed times, postures and forms. 
Men, desirous of a reputation for piety, were apt to plan to 
be overtaken on the street bv the hour of prayer, so that 
all could see them. But Jesus declared that true prayer 
should be unostentatious, directed only toward God. He 
did not think, of course, of excluding social prayer, but 
rather of urging the spirit of solitude in prayer. 

The Lord’s prayer was no set form of prayer, to be 
substituted for the forms which other rabbis taught 
their followers, but a model to which all prayer may in 
general conform. It emphasizes bv example the rever¬ 
ent freedom which should characterize real prayer, the 


64 


The Life of Christ 


trustful spirit it should express and the simplicity of 
manner it favors. Whether this prayer was wholly 
original is the least important of questions. It leads us 
in the right way to God; it expresses our needs and 
aspirations in simple form; it has no superfluous words. 
It is a worthy fruitage of the long and varied prayer 
life of Jesus. 

The third example of current piety was the practice 
of fasting. This, too, the Jews had reduced to a rigid 
system, often followed mechanically, yet with every 
evasion which a skilful casuistry could devise. Thus 
adjusted it ministered mainly to a love of ostentation. 
To all this Jesus was opposed. He forbade all simula¬ 
tion of sorrow and in fact all pretence of any kind. 



Western Shore ot the Sea of Galilee, with the Horns Hattin 
Seen in the Distance, through the Gorge of Hamam, 


The section which begins with the nineteenth verse is 
reproduced by Luke in other connections, but it does not 
seem out of place. The true righteousness needs to be 
distinguished from worldliness no less than from spuri¬ 
ous types of piety. The ostentation of Pharisaism was 
no more conspicuous than its spirit of greed. Jesus 
pointed out the two grave dangers of hoarding: its inse¬ 
curity and its corrupting influence on the soul. More¬ 
over, no one can have two supreme objects of interest, 
the one on the earth and the other in heaven. One 
must be definitely in subordination. 

Nor can we be truly religious if we waste our ener- 








Chapter 16. The Sermon on the Mount 65 


gies over matters that are of trivial importance. The 
habit of anxiety is both foolish and useless, foolish be¬ 
cause we have a Father in heaven, useless because no 
amount of worrying will alter the conditions under 
which we live. 

The emphasis placed by Jesus on the fatherhood of 
God is interesting. The word “father” expresses a rela¬ 
tionship of love and sympathy and care. The Father 
knows the needs of His disciples and never forgets them. 
He listens to their pleas, He considers their welfare. He 
ministers to their necessities. 

The part of the true disciple is to do day by day his 
whole duty, aiming to promote in himself and in others 
an unswerving allegiance to God and to accomplish each 
day every proper obligation, assured that present duty 
is all that God wishes any one to perform, and that 
with the morrow will be provided the grace and wisdom 
for the full performance of all that is to come. Not 
lack of forethought but absence of anxious, distrustful 
solicitude is what our Lord forbade. 

The principle of subordination is one which is far 
reaching. No one can be allied to earth and to heaven 
at the same time, if each is regarded as supreme in im¬ 
portance. But when one interest is made supreme and 
all others subordinated, it is clear that the whole world 
may be utilized. Jesus did not condemn the use of 
riches, but servility to them. 

With God as our Father it follows that there must 
be sincerity and reality in our religious life. We 
stand in a close relation which invites and demands 
genuine affection. Such a relationship places the 
formal side of religious life in its proper subordination. 
It is a helpful auxiliary, not a principal aim. 


66 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 17.—The Sermon on the Hount: Applications of 
the New Law of Righteousness. 

Mt. 7 :1—8:1. 

The latter portion of the Sermon on the Mount as 
given in the Gospel according to Matthew lends support 
to the suggestion of Bruce that the first Gospel records 
a skilful combination of originally distinct teachings, 
possessing a generic unity because of their common en¬ 
vironment. The preaching of Jesus at this time might 
be compared to a summer school of theology. He did 
not merely meet His disciples and others for a few hours 
that they might hear one continued discourse, but met 
them again and again, for days perhaps in succession, 
going over many themes on which those who were soon 
to represent Him far and wide needed careful instruc¬ 
tion. 

A very strong argument can be made for the view 
that the principal, perhaps the only, subject of the most 
important of these conferences was Pharisaic righteous¬ 
ness and Christ’s position in relation to it. This was a 
supremely important theme both for Him and for His 
hearers. Confronted as He was with evidences of Phar¬ 
isaic disapproval and even hostility it was evident that 
He should begin at once to make clear to His followers 
the principles which determined His judgments of Phar¬ 
isaic practise, and to make it equally plain that His at¬ 
titude toward the Law and the Prophets was not revolu¬ 
tionary but friendly, and that His supreme desire was 
the securing of a glad obedience to its genuine, right¬ 
fully interpreted precepts. 

Throughout the sermon, as reported by the first Gos¬ 
pel, are instructions which relate to other themes of in¬ 
terest to disciples, such as the warnings against covet¬ 
ousness and worry, or the teaching about true prayer. 
The remaining portion of the sermon, found in Mt. 
ch. 7, contains some of this miscellaneous material. 
Whether it was or was not utfered on some other occa¬ 
sion, it seems appropriate to such a gathering, as Bruce 
has suggested, when a number of helpful themes might 


Chapter 17. The Sermon on the Mount 67 

well have been considered, only fragments of the dis¬ 
cussions being preserved to us. To understand the Ser¬ 
mon on the Mount as one uninterrupted, single discourse 
is increasingly difficult; to understand our two versions 
of it as two distinct attempts to exhibit its great ideas 
and beautiful teachings, neither more than suggesting the 
length or the method or the fullness or the charm of 
the original series of conversations, is increasingly sat¬ 
isfactory. 

Jesus could not complete His presentation of the 
royal law of genuine righteousness without drawing 
some personal applications. He had to warn His fol¬ 
lowers against indulging in the very faults which con¬ 
tributed to deaden the spiritual life of the orthodox 
Jewish leaders. He therefore took up the question of 
the right use of the standards of conduct to which He 
had given expression and illustration. Such standards 
are not in the first place to encourage an attitude of 
criticism. The habitually censorious person forgets his 
own failings. Right standards are rather for self-cor¬ 
rection and improvement. Only a victory over the evil 
which is within ourselves can give us the clearness of 
moral vision which enables us to perceive and the genu¬ 
ine friendliness which enables us to properly deal with 
the evils which are round about us. Moral criticism is 
often necessary. There is such a thing as discrimination 
in character. He who has a holy treasure to guard need 
not expose it to desecration by the first comer. Holiness 
has its rights. 

The section which urges the disciple to an intelligent 
persistence in prayer is repeated almost word for word 
in Lu. 11:1-13 and in a more impressive connection. 
There it is related that the disciples requested that He 
teach them to pray. He responded with the Lord’s 
Prayer as a model for all time, and followed with the 
parable of the Importunate Friend and with the instruc¬ 
tion, found in our "passage also, that there should be a 
persistence in trustful, expectant prayer, addressed to a 
loving Father. 


68 


The Life of Christ 

The concluding verse of the section (Mt. 7 : 12) states 
a truly golden rule. As Bruce remarks, its positive declar¬ 
ation takes us into the region of generosity or grace. 
Christ would have us go very much beyond the scope of 
a quid pro quo. He would have us render our helpful¬ 
ness to those about us in a magnanimous, kindly, 
happy way. What other one than He would have made 
each man’s desires his own standard of generosity or 
friendliness to others ? 

The two ways of life, the narrow and the broad, trod¬ 
den by the few and the many, entered by narrow and 
wide gates, seem to emphasize a similar line of thought 
to that of the teachings about prayer. The entrance 
into the Christian life is narrow in that it requires a 
separation from worldliness, and the life itself is 
straitened because it is beset with difficulties with 
which every one must manfully struggle. It was too 
strait for the rich young ruler. To continue in it re¬ 
quires a patient persistence in well doing. 

False prophets are a factor to be always reckoned with 
in religion. They are not readily distinguished from 
good men by any outward test. As Mt. 7: 22 suggests, 
every such misleader has much to say for himself and to 
exhibit,—earnest addresses, the casting out of demons, 
many wonderful works performed. These are all very 
plausible data. But there is a far-reaching test. The 
true prophet cares supremely for truth, for his fellow- 
men, for righteous living, not at all for himself. The 
false prophet is always a self-seeking man. He never 
enters into fellowship with Christ. They have nothing 
in common. His leadership is selfish and narrow, a 
seizing of opportunities rather than an upbuilding of 
conditions. 

The concluding utterance is a fitting finale of this 
remarkable group of teachings, unparalleled for dignity, 
beauty and importance. 

The figure used had a significance for His hearers 
which it does not possess for us. The streams with 
which they were familiar are in summer time perfectly 


Chapter 17. The Sermon on the Mount 69 

dry, but become in the rainy season swollen streams. A 
far-seeing, careful man, building his home near such a 
water course, would put it, at some inconvenience, high 
up on a rock where it would be safe. An inconsiderate 
man would build at haphazard, on the sand, because that 
would be in the dry season both convenient and easy. 
The cultivation of a true religious life is like the build¬ 
ing of a home. It calls for the exercise of sound judg¬ 
ment, of serious purpose, of deliberate forethought. Its 
progress is due to the careful use of appropriate meas¬ 
ures. Its security depends upon its foundation. 

The one great hindrance to Christian maturity and 
stability, as Christ viewed it, was self-centredness. This 
prevents true loyalty to God, genuine sympathy for man, 
and a free and generous serviceableness. It substitutes 
pride for a confidence in God's care, and ambition in 
place of a desire to promote the Divine purposes. It 
neutralizes the habit of obedience to God's will. It is 
the one impossible trait of the true follower of Jesus. 


70 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 18.—Jesus’ Estimate of John the Baptist. 

Lu. 7: 1-35. 

It is very evident to one who reads the chapters im¬ 
mediately following those which describe the Sermon on 
the Mount that the third Gospel rather than the first 
conveys the correct impression regarding the events 
which occurred next in order. The Gospel according to 
Matthew states that Jesus entered Capernaum but pro¬ 
ceeds to relate, not the events which happened during 
His visit, but a series of illustrations of His Galilean 
ministry of healing, exhibiting His varied and won¬ 
derful serviceableness. Luke’s Gospel, on the other 
hand, seems to follow an historical clue, relating several 
notable and illuminating events of the rapid tour of 
Galilee which Jesus began in company with His 
disciples. 

At the very outset, as He was entering Capernaum, 
He was met by a deputation of Jewish elders who be¬ 
sought His favor on behalf of a Roman centurion who 
was held in high respect by all the people of Capernaum 
because of His friendliness and sympathy for them. 
Such considerateness as his was indeed rare, particular¬ 
ly in a Roman officer, trained by heritage and habit to 
despise the subject races controlled by him. Rarer yet 
was the solicitude which he showed for the slave who 
was ill. Jesus was always ready to meet such men and 
give them encouragement. But in the centurion He 
found a kindred spirit, a man of insight, strength and 
large-heartedness. The officer may have known more 
or less already about Jesus, for he showed an apprecia¬ 
tive respect for Him which went far beyond that of 
Jesus’ own following. Recognizing His power and its 
proper sphere he asked only that Jesus would put it 
forth on behalf of the lad, just as he himself would 
exercise his own competent authority. Jesus mar¬ 
velled at such ready and sympathetic comprehension. 
It was a gladdening token of the masterful faith which 
could be readily awakened throughout the Gentile world. 

Significant as this episode was, Luke’s excellent judg- 


Chapter 18. Jesus and John the Baptist 71 

ment in the selection of data which would afford a true 
apprehension of the personality of Jesus is no less won¬ 
derful in the story of the bringing to life of the son of 
the widow of Nain. 

It is related with 
beautiful simplicity, 
but throws a fresh 
and distinctive light 
upon the helpful 
ministry of Jesus. 

The band of travel¬ 
ers were on their 
way and came to the 
village called Nairn 
At the very entrance 
they met a funeral 
procession, made pe¬ 
culiarly mournful by the fact that the chief mourner 
was a widow and the dead man her only son. 
Touched deeply by her pitiful condition Jesus halted 

the bearers of the 
bier, restored the 
dead to life, and 
gave him back again 
to his mother. 
There were many 
witnesses of the 
deed, and the report 
of it went far and 
wide, preceding 
Jesus from place to 
place, and giving 
Him an open op¬ 
portunity for reach¬ 
ing men. It was 
merely a passing act, but very characteristic. The story 
is wonderfully well told. In seven verses there is a 
whole volume. Its greatest value is its testimony to the 
tender yet strong nature of the Master. He could not 




Nain. 










72 


The Life of Christ 


pass by a case of helpless need, but He could break the 
bars of death by a commanding word. 

These were but two of the many helpful deeds which 
illustrated the glad message of the kingdom which He 
was proclaiming. Eumors concerning them went every¬ 
where and found rheir way even to the lonely hero, John 
the Baptist, in his gloomy prison at Machserus, a fort¬ 
ress which was situated on the eastern shore of the Dead 
Sea. For many weary months, their tedium relieved 
only by the visits of his own disciples who remained 
faithful to him, John had been confined there at the 
command of King Herod. The stern prophet, faithful 
to his Divine commission, had not hesitated to lay bare 
the transgressions of the king and his consort, as well 
as of the various classes of people. The flagrant mis¬ 
deeds of the royal couple must indeed have gained for 
them a rebuke both unsparing and unrestricted, for the 
hatred of Herodias became implacable. She saw to it 
that John was kept safe in the prison. 

No wonder that John could not understand his situ¬ 
ation. He would naturally anticipate some action on 
the part of Jesus in his behalf. He was expecting, no 
doubt, that the Messiah would at no distant date de¬ 
clare Himself, depose Herod and his minions, drive 
away the hated Eomans and set up the -long-expected 
kingdom of righteousness and brotherhood, purging the 
people of those who were Israelites only in name, un¬ 
worthy of the kingdom, and freeing them from all hin¬ 
drances to growth. But the reports which came to his 
ears were suggestive of quite another outcome. They 
indicated that Jesus was a good man and one out of the 
ordinary, but that He was giving no sign whatever of an 
intention to fulfil the confident predictions of his fore¬ 
runner. 

Perplexed and disappointed the great-hearted man of 
God did exactly what he would be expected to do. He 
sent two trusted disciples to Jesus to appeal to Him 
for an explanation. They were to ask Him frankly 
whether He was the expected Messiah or not. 


Chapter 18. Jesus and John the Baptist 73 

Jesus understood John and took the simplest method 
of satisfying his doubts. He allowed the messengers to 
watch Him as He spent a busy day in works of benefi¬ 
cence and helpfulness, and then bade them describe to 
their master in prophetic language what they had seen. 
It was a satisfying reply. It virtually declared that 
Jesus was doing precisely what the prophets had said 
that the Messiah would do. His life was no failure, but 
a glorious success. Happy the man who could see this 
and enter into glad fellowship with Him! 

On the departure of the messengers with their cheer¬ 
ing message, Jesus seized the opportunity to pay a pub¬ 
lic tribute to John. What had been the popular esti¬ 
mate of the prophet of the Jordan? No weakling was 
he, no truckler, but one who declared the will of God, 
the equal of the prophets of Israel and more, the herald 
of the true Messiah. Yet this greatest of prophets was 
not the equal of a humble disciple of Jesus, since the 
latter habitually acted upon truth which no prophet had 
comprehended. 

The doom of that generation was sealed because its 
leaders would not even receive the message of John. 
They played at religion, scoffing alike at the ascetic 
prophet and the friendly Jesus, letting their prejudices 
control their impressions. God’s glorious revelation 
could not be made plain to such a people. 

The question of Jesus to the multitudes is a practical 
one for every age. It is the business of every intelli¬ 
gent person to cultivate a clear vision. He should 
actually see the things which ought to be seen that he 
may take an intelligent and worthy share in the forward 
movements of the world. No one has a right to trifle 
like a child with the great realities of life. 

The penalties of narrow-mindedness are not averted 
by goodness of character or by greatness of service. 
The prophet himself, the last and greatest of his kind, 
was yet, by the very characteristics which made him 
notable and useful, debarred from the larger life of the 
coming kingdom. 


74 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 19—Pharisaic Calumny and Narrowness Rebuked. 

Mk. 3:19&-35; Lu. 7: 36—8: 3. 

The second preaching circuit of Jesus in Galilee was 
a somewhat undefined tour, rather a series of excursions 
from Capernaum as a base than a continuous and care¬ 
fully planned journey. The Gospels give no itinerary 
and rather ignore the journey itself. They emphasize 
the work which Jesus was doing and the current ex¬ 
planations regarding it. 

Apparently the popularity of Jesus did not seriously 
wane. Crowds flocked to Him wherever He went. In 
Capernaum He was besieged by so dense and engrossing 
a throng that neither He nor His disciples could attend 
to their normal needs. They were simply overwhelmed 
by the eager rush of the people. This popularity did 
not deceive Jesus nor did it elate Him, but He took 
quick advantage of it, doing His utmost to seize this 
splendid opportunity for impressing Himself upon those 
who were within the reach of His hand and the sound 
of His voice. 

It has often been pointed out that only an actual and 
successful ministry of healing would have led to the 
formulation of theories of explanation. Had Jesus per¬ 
formed no wonderful cures there would have been neither 
crowds nor criticisms. But His friends and His ene¬ 
mies, the people and their ruler—each had a theory 
which emphasized the fact explained. 

His friends and relatives were convinced that He had 
gone mad. They did not disapprove of His work, but 
felt that He had carried serviceableness to an extreme, 
reaching at least an unhealthy stage of excitement, 
dangerous alike to health and happiness. Fearing that 
He would be unable to continue the strain, they came to 
Capernaum to remove Him to a more quiet environ¬ 
ment. They felt that He lacked all prudence and was 
over-careless about Himself. They viewed His work 
from a selfish standpoint, and with little appreciation of 
its significance. Therefore He recognized the broader 


Chapter 19. Pharisaism Rebuked 75 

claims of true spiritual kinship. If His own family 
could not enter with sympathy into His work, He could 
find among His followers those who would take their 
places. This was a “hard saying” in a land of strong 
family ties. Probably it confirmed the opinion of His 
relatives that He was in a morbid state of mind. 

The hostile scribes claimed publicly that He was in 
collusion with Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. 
His whole course would show this, they thought, but 
His power to order the demons about testified to it 
anew. This was a serious charge, coming from those to 
whom the people were accustomed to look for author¬ 
itative decisions, and assuming conditions difficult to 
disprove but accepted as real by every auditor. Jesus 
met it in the only effective way. He reduced it to ab¬ 
surdity by drawing a few analogies. How, He sug¬ 
gested, could the great ruler of the demons lend his aid 
for their discomfiture, thus working against his own 
interests? Jesus was deliberately invading Satan’s 
sphere and delivering men from bondage to him and all 
for which he stood. Such rejoinder was a delight to 
Jesus. He could meet His adversaries on their own 
ground and foil them with their own weapons. No 
scribe was ever able to equal Him in dialectic. 

The meanness of the calumny aroused His indigna¬ 
tion and its insincerity led Him to administer a solemn 
rebuke. He warned them against becoming guilty of 
an eternal sin in blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. 
By this He must have meant their deliberately malig¬ 
nant ascription of His gracious deeds of love to the 
influence of the evil one. Such calculating fiendish¬ 
ness may get beyond the power of redeeming love. 

The common people did not understand Jesus as He 
desired to be known, but they had come to one conclu¬ 
sion with unanimity. Jesus was a man to tie to and 
follow in case of need. He could help them and was 
ready at much personal cost, but in kindliest fashion, 
to do it. How He cured them and their friends or why 
did not greatly concern them. It was enough that 


76 


The Life of Christ 

many were made whole and relieved of blindness and 
insanity and epilepsy and palsy and many other current 
forms of disease, and even brought back from death 
unto life. 

The number on whom He could rely grew steadily 
larger. There accompanied Him on His tours not only 
the Twelve but many others only less trusted than they. 
This body of faithful disciples included a few women 
bound to Him by ties of gratitude and reverence. Mary 
of Magdala, unfortunately and no doubt unjustly fated 
to be reputed as one redeemed from a life of sin, but 
unquestionably a noble woman delivered by Jesus from 
daily martyrdom; the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, 
a woman of means, and others were His companions, 
deeming it a sacred pleasure to contribute of their 
means toward the support of the disciples. To Jesus, as 
to other teachers among the Jews, this problem must at 
times have been perplexing. It was commonly solved 
by the generosity of well-to-do followers, who esteemed 
it a privilege to assist in the maintenance of what con¬ 
tributed to their beloved Master’s influence. That He 
not only allowed these women to perform this duty but 
associated them with the disciple company was a wide 
departure from the conventional standards of Rabbinic 
practice, but in full accordance with His generous and 
thoughtful policy. 

His friendliness to all finds striking illustration in 
the story, told so graphically in Luke’s Gospel, of the 
meal in the house of Simon, the Pharisee. While Phar¬ 
isees as a class were in an attitude of hostility to Jesus, 
there were some who inclined to believe in Him and 
many who, with more or less condescension, sought to 
hear Him present His own side of the truth. Simon 
appears to have invited Jesus to his house in order that 
he and his friends might hear Him without disturb¬ 
ance or interruption. He treated Jesus as a curiosity 
rather than as a guest, omitting the customary courte¬ 
sies shown to his friends. Nevertheless the meal went 
on as intended, until a strange incident occurred. A 


Chapter 19. Pharisaism Rebuked 


77 


woman, who for some reason was not permitted to en¬ 
ter the synagogue, probably because of her impure life, 
stole in quietly, placed herself at the outstretched, un¬ 
sandaled feet of the Master, anointed them with costly 
ointment, and bathed them with yet more precious tears 
of loving repentance. Somewhere Jesus had spoken to 
her sinful heart and manifested a sympathy and en- 



Ancient Couch Table. 


couragement which made for her redemption. She 
could not refrain from this silent testimony of her 
gratitude and her purpose. Jesus, she well knew, 
would understand her. With His approval she could 
brave the merciless disapproval of the Pharisees. 

The delicacy with which Jesus dealt with her and 
His universal courtesy did not prevent Him from hold¬ 
ing up a mirror for Simon. He was taught that for¬ 
giveness should keep pace with bitter need, and that a 
true love for men takes account of nothing else. 

The attitude of Jesus toward those whom He met at 
this time of whatever class is a continuous inspiration 
to His followers in their contact with life. The misap¬ 
prehensions of others made no difference with Him. He 
continued to give His best. 

But He occasionally drew a line. A personal wrong 
He ignored; a spiritual crime—the forbidding of the 
free course of saving grace—He denounced. In this 
too He set a permanent example. 









78 


The Life of Christ 

Chapter 20.—The Parables of the Kingdom. 

Mt. 13:1-50; Mk. 4:26-29. 

The attentive reader of the Gospels will note with 
surprise the fact that the Synoptists seem to testify that 
Jesus at this period of His ministry began to emphasize 
the use of parables in His teaching. It does not follow 
that He had made no previous use of this effective edu¬ 
cational instrument, but only that there was a reason 
for its more constant and striking use. 

The use of all forms of imagery in discourse was com¬ 
mon among the Jewish teachers of that day. They de¬ 
lighted in riddles and fables, in stories and illustrations, 
in curious and impressive methods of presenting truth, 
which met with great acceptance on the part of the 
people. Jesus was a master of the art of imaginative 
expression. From the outset His illustrations made a 
deep impression upon His audiences. His figurative 
expressions were singularly apt and forceful. “I will 
make you fishers of men.” “Ye are the salt of the 
earth, the light of the world.” “They that are whole 
have no need of a physician, hut they that are sick.” 
According to His recorded addresses He made constant 
use of more elaborate imagery, not alone of the parable 
but of allegory. 

His use of the parable in teaching truth is made evi¬ 
dent by the Gospels. Apparently more than one reason 
made this a favorite method of instruction. One great 
value of the parable is the ease with which it is retained 
in memory. But it likewise attracts the hearer and 
makes him ready to listen to truth. It also presents the 
essential truth in a forceful way, reserving the unwel¬ 
come conclusion for the hearer himself. 

It follows that a parable must not be over-interpreted. 
It is intended to convey one principal teaching, not a 
dozen. An allegory, like that of the Good Shepherd, or 
the Vine and the Branches, must be significant in de¬ 
tails in order to be most effective; a parable, like that 


Chapter 20. Parables of the Kingdom 79 

of the Rich Man and Lazarus, is evidence that the 
minor details are but an effective setting to the real 
teaching intended. 

One is tempted to conclude from the apparent state¬ 
ments of the Gospels that Jesus made use of parables in 
order to prevent men from getting at truth. “To them 
it is not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven.” In a certain sense it is true that the real 
meaning of a parable might be obscure to one who was 
wholly unspiritual in temperament and not in sympathy 
with the purposes of Jesus. There were always a large 
number of auditors—possibly a majority—whose ears 
were attentive to the story and to nothing more, but 
that Jesus deliberately sought to withhold the truth 
from any one seems incredible. The real purpose of a 
parable is to set forth a spiritual truth in effective fash¬ 
ion, to give it wings, to insure its life, to make it unfor- 
getable. Incidentally it furnished entertainment of a 
favorite sort. 

The grouping in the first Gospel of eight parables, 
as if all were delivered on this one occasion, serves to 
impress the reader with their significance. It is quite 
possible that several of them were actually spoken on 
other occasions, and equally possible that more than 
eight were delivered at this time. The parallel pas¬ 
sage in Mark includes two of these parables and one new 
one. The Gospel of Luke gives only the parable of the 
Sower in this connection, assigning another occasion for 
those of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven. Doubtless 
Jesus often used these parables of the kingdom, so fit¬ 
ting and helpful for His purpose. 

The student of these parables is constantly impressed 
by the felicity with which Jesus made use of them and 
the importance of the teaching thus conveyed. Among 
the religious teachers of the world who have adopted 
and made their own historic methods sanctioned by an¬ 
tiquity and popular approval He stands foremost. 
Other teachers could pray and could teach their disci¬ 
ples to pray, yet there is really no prayer which com- 


80 


The Life of Christ 


pares with His own. Others were noted for the depth 
and charm of their teachings, but Jesus was easily the 
Master of all. 

Bruce remarks that the parables of the Sower and of 
the Tares and the Drag Net belong together. The 
first explains the fact that men are so variously affected 
by even the most earnest preaching. There are all 
sorts of hearers, some of whom are no more impressible 
than soil that is strewn with rocks. The second and 
third indicate that the kingdom could not begin by sort¬ 
ing out its own people and excluding the rest. The 
time for sorting comes at the end of a fishing, not be¬ 
fore. The growth of the kingdom is a long historical 
process. 

The parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven 
explain themselves. The kingdom of heaven is sure to 
keep growing, silently, surprisingly, beneficently. Give 
it time. 

The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price 
are perfect illustrations of the supreme value of the 
kingdom. One who knows about spiritual values will 
make any sacrifice whatever to insure his possession of 
this greatest good. 

The parable of the Householder is supplemental to 
those preceding. Jesus would have His disciples fresh- 
minded, un-Kabbinical, reverent toward familiar truth, 
open to that which is new, loyal always to the preaching 
of truth. 

One who considers the parables in the light of the cir¬ 
cumstances of the active ministry of Jesus realizes that 
they may have been utilized by Him at this particular 
crisis as an apology and as an efficient method of pre¬ 
sentation. Some explanation of the situation was 
needed in order that the disciples might not lose heart. 
They as well as He could see that His cause was making 
but slight progress. The king on his throne, the relig¬ 
ious leaders. His own family, the people at large—with 
one accord failed to take Him at His own estimate. He 
had to remind them of the working conditions of such 


Chapter 20. Parables of the Kingdom. 81 

an enterprise as His and to encourage them by an assur¬ 
ance of future results. 

To a certain extent the emphasis laid by Him on this 
form of teaching may have been due to the evident 
misapprehension of His plainer declarations. There 
was a real advantage in the employment of natural and 
familiar analogies in nature and life for the explanation 
of His conception of the kingdom and its future. 

Neither self-defense nor the exigencies of instruction, 
however, account in full for parables. They were as 
natural to Jesus as the habit of prayer, the spontaneous 
expression of His genial, healthful, clear-visioned per¬ 
sonality. The Christian of to-dav can ill afford to ignore 
the parable habit. It is helpful to the teacher who de¬ 
sires to cultivate the art of putting ideas in attractive 
forms, which cannot be readily dropped out of mind. It 
is indispensable for the discipie who faces the hard facts 
of daily life. The parable habit will transform and 
illumine and interpret the most prosaic happenings into 
inspiring contributions to the progress of the kingdom 
of God. 


82 The Life of Christ 

Chapter 21.—The Commanding Personality of Jesus. 

Mk. 4:35—5:20. 

The solicitude of the family of Jesus in regard to 
His physical well-being was not wholly misplaced. 
Occasionally Jesus Himself found it needful to slip 
away from the constant pressure of the multitude for 
whose relief He was incessantly importuned. To pre¬ 
serve that serene balance of mind which characterized 
Him He sought a few hours of privacy with His inti¬ 
mates. Only thus could He maintain His own vitality 
and courage and replenish theirs. 

After the day or days of instruction and healing in 
Capernaum He found Himself at the shore of the lake, 
and on an impulse which may have been sudden pro¬ 
posed to His disciples that they go over to the other side. 
Matthew’s Gospel alone suggests the pressure of the 
multitude as a motive; but the others imply it more or 
less distinctly. His companions were ready to go. 
These brief periods of absence invariably were times of 
instruction. Jesus rarely failed to exhibit Himself in 
some new phase of character, which strengthened their 
confidence in Him or broadened their vision. 

Mark indicates the quickness of the disciples’ response 
to the suggestion of the Master. Even so it was not 
possible to go unattended. Some of His auditors had 
gotten into the boats which were at the shore, and lost 
no time in following the Eabbi who had impressed 
Himself so powerfully upon them. These may have 
been witnesses to the remarkable events which took 
place or they mav have merelv escorted Him for a dis¬ 
tance, returning in the face of the rising tempest. 

As they proceeded a storm arose in sudden, fierce 
gusts, rolling up gTeat waves which broke over the boat 
and were ‘rapidly filling it with water. Overcome hv 
fatigue Jesus had fallen asleep on the rough leathern 
cushion which served for the steersman. Through all 
the disturbance of the elements aud plunging of the 


Chapter 21. His Commanding Personality 83 

vessel He slept soundly. At last, overmastered by 
alarm, the others in the boat wakened the Master and 
besought Him to save them. Since four of them were 
fishermen by occupation, accustomed to handle boats 
and acquainted with the lake, the situation must have 
seemed really perilous. 

The narrative of Mark is intensely dramatic. It con¬ 
veys an impression of the raging storm and the threaten¬ 
ing waves and of the calmness and majestic assertive¬ 
ness of Jesus. Its parallelism gives an effect of state¬ 
liness which is unique. He addresses separately the 
wind and the sea and they each obey. 

Marvellous as the outcome seemed to them, it was 
more than a lesson of the resourcefulness and domi¬ 
nance of Jesus. His self-mastery and absolute confi¬ 
dence was the chief impression. The disciples were 
ever being astonished and awed by Him. Their educa¬ 
tion had to proceed one step at a time, each advance 
making a serious demand upon their loyalty. Even 
Jesus could scarcely realize their slowness of apprehen¬ 
sion. His rebuke seems to contain a note of sorrowful 
surprise. Could they not be courageous as long as He 
was near at hand ? Had He not even yet won their un¬ 
swerving confidence ? 

At the further shore a no less convincing demonstra¬ 
tion of His power took place, related in the second Gos¬ 
pel with extreme realism and graphic power. The party 
landed on heathen territory in the region known as the 
Decapolis, a league of Greek cities dating back as far as 
the time of Pompey. Some city (Mk. 5:14) was not 
far away, but the spot where they landed was appar¬ 
ently wild, hilly and rather desolate. Perhaps the name 
of the town near by was Khersa, whose territory probably 
bordered on the north with that of Bethsaida. That the 
people were Greek in habits may be argued from the 
vast herd of swine which was plainly in sight. 

Here they were met at once by a man who was vio¬ 
lently insane. He was unclothed, uncanny, a constant 
wanderer, possessed as all believed by a host of evil 


84 


The Life of Christ 


spirits. Day and night he roamed, screaming in his 
frenzy and cutting himself with stones, a terror to all 
who lived in the vicinity, wholly uncontrollable. Bush¬ 
ing, as was his wont, to meet the intruders the maniac 


was arrested and 
mastered at once 
by the calm, strong 
personality of Jesus. 
One feature of his 
twisted conscious¬ 
ness was the sense 
of possession by un¬ 
numbered demons, 
and of being sub¬ 
ject to their will. 
The spiritual mas¬ 
terfulness of Jesus 
was adequate for 



Hill of the Swine near Gerasa, or Khersa. 

(Copyright, 1898, by A. J. Holman & Co., Philadelphia.) 


the restoration of the poor sufferer to his proper balance 
of mind. 

The three outstanding facts in this case with reference 
to which all testimonies agree are the seriousness of his 
condition, the completeness of his cure and the destruc¬ 
tion, in close connection with the cure, of the great herd 
of swine which was feeding near at hand. To those who 
were witnesses the explanation of the case was simple. 
The demons who were in the man,entered into the swine 
and caused the catastrophe. How a trained observer of 
to-day would have explained the circumstances no one 
can declare. We can readily imagine a series of parox¬ 
ysms on the part of the madman which affected the herd 
with extreme terror. The whole countryside came 
flocking to the scene of the catastrophe. They won¬ 
dered when they saw the demoniac in his right mind, 
but they were unwilling to have the work continued at 
such a price. They besought the Master to go away. 

The man who was healed desired to follow Jesus. But 
the Master hade him rather give his redeemed life to 
glad and thankful service as the first apostle to the non- 









Chapter 21. His Commanding Personality 85 

Jewish world. It is not certain that he accomplished 
great things. There was a passing wonder at his testi¬ 
mony, possibly a determination on the part of many to 
see Jesus, if the opportunity came,—little more. 

Demoniac possession is one of the unsolved mysteries 
of the Gospel tradition. Beyond question the people 
of Judea and Galilee believed in its reality and dis¬ 
tinguished it often from physical disease. The two 
principal reasons for regarding a demoniac as more 
than merely an insane person are their characteristic 
recognition of Jesus as the Messiah and His apparent 
acceptance of the popular view that they were pos¬ 
sessed. He said in the case of the man of Gadara, 
“Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man.” 
The first reason may be explained by the prevailing 
Messianio ardor, sure to affect unbalanced minds. 
Jesus did not value their testimony. The second rea¬ 
son is truly perplexing, but only because we hesitate to 
suppose that He would allow His disciples to cherish an 
error. The certain truth is that whether the disease 
was mental or spiritual, and its subject responsible or 
irresponsible, Jesus was its Master. A moment in His 
presence was sufficient to give the victim a self-mastery. 
Fellowship with Him was then, as now, the secret of its 
maintenance. 

The people of Gadara we profoundly pity. Because 
of losing a little property they forfeited the greatest op¬ 
portunity of their lives. It is an outstanding mystery 
that men will witness the triumphs of the Gospel and 
yet continue to ignore its claims. 


86 


The Life of Christ 

Chapter 22.—The Power of Faith. 

Mt. 9:27-34; Mk. 5:21-43. 

Apparently Jesus did not remain long among the 
inhospitable people of the Gadarene country. He 
returned, according to the first Gospel, to Capernaum, 
where the multitude was expectant and ready to give 
Him a welcome. Before He had left the seaside He was 
approached by the ruler of the local synagogue, Jairus 
by name, a man of much influence, who was entrusted 
with the care of public worship, appointing readers and 

preachers. Usually 
there was only one 
such official at a 
synagogue. Mark rec¬ 
ognizes him as be¬ 
longing to that class. 

Jairus, overcome by 
grief, hearing of the 
coming of Jesus, 
hastened from the 
chamber of death to 
importune Jesus to 
lend His aid and re¬ 
store her, before it 
should be too late. The Master could not resist such an 
earnest appeal with its note of faith. He followed him 
with the disciples. 

Jesus was closely pressed by a great crowd who hoped 
to witness a miracle. In this throng was a woman, who 
for twelve years had suffered grievously from a malady 
which no one had been able to cure. In Christian tra¬ 
dition her name was Veronica. Her sickness made her 
Levitically unclean and she did not wish to call public 
attention to it, so she came behind Jesus and touched 
the tassel or border of His overgarment, thinking that 
even such a contact with Him would heal her. Though 
a superstitious act, it was her best and most natural ex¬ 
pression of confidence in Jesus. 









Chapter 22. The Power of Faith 


67 


We can well imagine the timidity and tentativeness 
with which she approached the Master to make the trial. 
She had endured every phase of shame and agony for 
years. Not alone her resources, but her courage were 
almost expended. Her need was so desperate that she 
dared to press it on this inappropriate occasion, when 
Jesus was hurrying on an errand of life and death to 
the house of the ruler. 

Then came the great wonder. In a moment she felt 
that her complaint was healed, that her time of distress 
was over. She stepped away but not out of earshot. 
Jesus at once knew that some one had touched Him 
and asked who it was. Despite the natural astonish¬ 
ment of His disciples He persisted in declaring that 
some one had been healed. 

The woman could not longer keep her secret. “It 
occurred to her that she might have been doing some¬ 
thing terribly wrong in obtaining her great blessing 
from the Healer in this strange way.” Trembling with 
fear she cast herself at His feet and confessed her 
daring deed. With infinite tact and delicacy Jesus 
addressed her as “daughter,” a soothing, considerate, 
tender, reassuring word. It expressed forgiveness, com¬ 
prehension and comfort—all in one. He then com¬ 
mended her faith and graciously dismissed her in peace. 

Mark’s lively narrative enables us to follow the course 
of Jesus to the house of the ruler. While on his way 
Jairus was told that the child had expired. Jesus 
overheard the message and encouraged him to hold on 
to his faith. 

Why Jesus selected Peter, James and John to go with 
Him has been variously explained. Probably the 
Twelve would have been too many and yet these could 
represent them as eye-witnesses. Probably also there 
was a sympathy between these three and the Master 
which made them particularly agreeable as companions. 
There were hopes and thoughts in the mind of Jesus 
which could scarcely be confided to the entire group of 
apostles. He was the Teacher and Guide of them all, but 


38 


The Life of Christ 


the intimate friend of a few. His preference awakened 
some jealousy, yet was persistent. Jesus found in the 
three, especially in Peter and John, a responsiveness, a 
readiness of comprehension and a comradeship which 
were of great support to Him and more or less essential 
to His own balance of judgment and persistency of 
purpose. Not even the Master loved to stand alone con¬ 
tinually. At the more important occasions of His 
ministry He took the three with Him. 

Coming to the ruler’s house Jesus found there already 
a throng of people, relatives, friends, mourners and 
onlookers, drawn by various motives, sympathy, the 
desire to share in the good things going at the funeral, 
and professional zeal. The funeral of a member of the 
family of one of the leading citizens of Capernaum 
would call for the prompt attendance or the repre¬ 
sentation of every one of social standing in the city. It 
would afford an open opportunity for many of less 
importance to show their sympathy or interest. It 
demanded the presence of every relative of whatever 
degree. Besides those who prepared the body for the 
last rites, the mourning customs of the day—as ancient 
as the days of Jeremiah (Jer. 9:17, 18)—required the 
attendance of flute players and professional mourners. 
The latter sang elegies of a peculiar metre and style in 
praise of the dead. If we may cite in illustration the 
custom of the farther East as witnessed to-day, these 
mourning songs, while inflexible as to form and melody, 
were endlessly varied in sentiment, not infrequently 
made to order. 

As befitted the great occasion and the suddenness 
with which it had become necessary, there was great 
confusion when Jesus arrived. Manufactured feeling of 
any kind was intensely distasteful to Him and grief 
above all others. He quickly dismissed the whole 
throng, declaring that the maiden was not dead but 
sleeping. Naturally they laughed derisively, for she 
was to all seeming beyond the reach of any healing 
touch. The Master’s air of authoritative confidence 


Chapter 22. The Power of Faith 


89 


prevailed with all. Taking only the parents of the 
maiden and His trusted Three He entered the chamber 
of death. 

Three details of His action at the bedside are of per¬ 
manent interest. Notwithstanding the strict cere¬ 
monial law in regard to the defilement occasioned by 
touching a corpse He took the maiden by the hand. The 
law had to yield to grace where the two came into col¬ 
lision in His work for the world. Again He spoke to 
her in the current vernacular, Aramaic. Probably He 
was also a user of Greek; but at such a time as this. He 
used the home speech. Finally His thoughtfulness in 
little details is exhibited by the injunction to give her 
some nourishing food after her long exhaustion. The 
parents in their overwhelming joy, which must have been 
manifesting itself in endearments and expressions of 
thankfulness, might well have forgotten her need. But 
Jesus had a wonderful stock of common sense. 

There is a valuable lesson in His wise command. He 
had restored the maid to her world. It was not that she 
might henceforth live apart from others, but that the 
old ties and habits and responsibilities might be re¬ 
newed. There was no such idea in the mind of Jesus as 
a life which ignores relationships and duties. 

That nowhere Jesus is made to express a sense of 
dependence on God for the power which He had been 
exhibiting does not of course alter the fact of His 
conscious and constant appeal. His source of strength 
was the Father, 


90 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 23.—The Mission of the Twelve. 

Mt. 9:35—11:1; Mk. 6:1-13. 

Following the incidents at Capernaum Jesus and His 
little company seem to have begun a tour of consider¬ 
able duration among the villages of Galilee. Of its de¬ 
tails we are told but few. He visited Nazareth, He did 
His usual varied work of preaching, teaching and heal¬ 
ing in many other villages; He was so impressed with 
the conditions He found that He formed the important 
resolution of sending forth the Twelve to supplement 
His own activity. 

From what motives He made His way to Nazareth 
we can only conjecture. He could hardly have expected 
Teal sympathy and encouragement in the face of the 
recent action of His own family circle. But doubtless 
when in that vicinity the spell of His boyhood village 
asserted itself and He went for a day or two of refresh¬ 
ing rest amidst its familiar scenes. 

Whether it was His second visit to Nazareth or 
His first depends upon the interpretation given to the 
fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. There 
are many who regard both narratives as referring to the 
one visit which took place during this second Galilean 
tour. In such case Luke made use of the incident as a 
pertinent illustration of a synagogue sermon, such as 
Jesus was constantly delivering. He thought it a fit¬ 
ting introduction to his story of the active ministry 
of Jesus, and reproduced it in that connection. 

It was natural for Him to make His way to the 
synagogue on the Sabbath, nor would He refrain from 
preaching the message with which His heart was full. 
Taken unawares, His neighbors paid spontaneous trib¬ 
ute to His gracious and winning speech, so fine a real¬ 
ization of their secret hopes for the nation. On 
reflection, however, they began to discuss the wonderful 
difference between the eloquent and noble rabbi who had 
just come to them and the hoy who had grown up 
obscurely in their midst. They quickly reached the 


91 


Chapter 23. Mission of the Twelve 

stages of contemptuous rejection of His appeals and of 
desiring to be rid of Him. They could not overlook 
His quiet, uneventful, unimposing growth to manhood, 
devoid of all pretense of leadership or unusual power. 

Their attitude was at least a first-rate bit of evidence 
that His was an extraordinary personality. Their con¬ 
tempt was clearly born of jealousy, their lack of faith a 
deliberate resistance of impulse. No wonder Jesus 
marveled. He had occasion sometimes to be annoyed 
at the manifestation of faith; in this case He wondered 
at their stupid lack of comprehension. 

As the tour continued Jesus was deeply impressed by 
the religious need of His countrymen. It was indeed 
bitter. Not only were they spiritually distressed, but 
their natural leaders showed them only neglect. The 
Pharisees of that day as a class were thinking about 
themselves rather than the people. His mood of inter¬ 
est and sympathy passed quickly into one of active pur¬ 
pose to help. He could not long remain a mere 
observer, for He had nothing of the cynical about Him. 
He turned with a note of appeal to His disciples, and 
pointed out the tremendous opportunity exhibited by 
this obvious need. Laborers of a sort were to be found 
in this potential harvest field, but effective workers were 
scarce enough, and many more were needed. 

The situation called for a rapid evangelization of the 
province in order that every one should hear the glad¬ 
dening Gospel message. Hence the Twelve were sent 
forth, two and two. Mistakes they might make and 
their impress would be but partial, yet they would 
follow His methods and inculcate His spirit. 

The instructions given by Jesus speak in the main 
for themselves, but justify some especial comment. The 
charge, found only in Matthew, to avoid Gentile and 
Samaritan cities, was not surprising in view of the 
facts: there was as yet an open field for effective effort 
in Galilee and the disciples were hardly fitted to cope 
with unfamiliar conditions. The great purpose of their 
mission was to be the moral and spiritual stimulus of 


92 


The Life of Christ 


the people. They were to preach and teach continually, 
but also to heal as opportunity offered. They were to 
avoid unnecessary elaborateness of outfit or mere dis¬ 
play that their journey 
might be rapid and their 
spirit of friendliness 
have its full appeal. 
They were to use their 
good judgment in select¬ 
ing the environment of 
their mission in each vil¬ 
lage, but not to . waste 
time in enforcing that 
judgment. 

Mt. 10:40-42 may 
well be regarded as a 
part of the instructions 
to the Twelve at this 
time, but it is evident 
that verses 16-39 belong 
to some later instruc¬ 
tions, which contemplated the apostolic age and its 
trials. The people of Galilee were not as yet in the 
attitude of “wolves,” nor had the time yet come for per¬ 
secutions of those who spread abroad the message of the 
kingdom. Those fiery trials, when they came, were 
such as to test severely the courage and constancy of 
each apostle. They needed just such forecasts of what 
they would have to go through, and such assurances of 
divine support, but not until long contact with Jesus 
and some experience in the blessedness of a successful 
ministry had given them a confidence which would defy 
opposition. The insertion of these instructions for 
the later age at this time is another illustration of the 
fondness of the first Gospel for grouping similar 
material. 

While the disciples were away on this mission Jesus 
Himself continued His own work, avoiding those vil¬ 
lages where His disciples had been or were going, 














Chapter 23. Mission of the Twelve 93 

giving them, as one has expressed it, “room and time.” 
For some time this evangelization continued, every¬ 
where finding a response. 

Disciples need to be placed in commission every day 
of the year, and these instructions have lost none of 
their pertinence or value with the lapse of centuries. 
The subordination of all personal interests to those of 
prompt and effective achievement of the object in view, 
the warning against over-requirement, the injunction to 
observe a thoughtful and generous courtesy even when 
engaged upon a great mission, are fundamentally vital 
to such as would serve their generation. 

Ambassadors for Christ must have a great drawing 
toward the rescue of men from conditions which belittle 
and ruin their lives. They will count the cost of serv¬ 
ice and enter upon it cheerfully. They can to-day have, 
as did the Twelve, the helpful consciousness of the abid¬ 
ing interest and support of the Master. 


Chapter 24.—The Feeding of the Five Thousand. 

Mk. 6 :14-46; Jo. 6:1-15. 

The evangelizing work of the Twelve in all parts of 
Galilee spread far and wide a knowledge of Jesus, the 
wonderful Teacher and Healer. Even Herod in his 
palace heard rumors concerning the young Eabbi and 
His bold message of righteousness and the kingdom of 
God, and wondered if John the Baptist had not risen 
from the dead to confront him once more. 

There was reason for his query. Not long before, 
that noble man of God had been beheaded at his order. 
For many months he had been languishing in prison 
for stigmatizing the adulterous relations of Herod with 
Herodias as they deserved. The king, bad as he was, 
feared and reverenced the Bantist. His consort nursed 
a sleepless hatred of her plain-spoken critic, and found 



94 


The Life of Christ 


her opportunity for revenge at a banquet given by Herod 
to his officers of state on his birthday. Her beautiful 
daughter so excited his guests by her graceful dancing 
that the king in his drunken joy asked her to name her 
reward. He dared not break his oath when she asked 
for the head of the prophet. 

Thus ended the earthly career of a noble personality, 
in the early strength of manhood. An uncompromising 
witness to the truth he saw, forgetful of self, he made a 
deep impression on his generation. Consequently his 
work was not cut short. By his death he accomplished 
more than by his life. It was a forceful and lasting 
testimony to loyalty to ideals. Twenty years later 
there were active disciples of his at Ephesus, who had 
not been brought into that contact with the apostolic 
work which usually resulted in their becoming merged 
with the followers of Jesus. These men, like Apollos 
(Acts 18:24,25) were still faithful to the teachings 
of John, but they readily accepted the ministrations of 
Paul. 

John’s work had been limited but was of the highest 
usefulness. He linked the older age with that which 
was dawning. He created a confidence in the mission 
of Jesus that was indispensable for its effective begin¬ 
ning. He made a deep impression by his own per¬ 
sonality upon the earnest-minded of his generation, 
both enlightening and stimulating in itself and trans¬ 
ferred in large measure to his greater Master. 

The disciples of John hastened to carry the sad news 
to Jesus. At about the same time the Twelve returned 
to Him, to report their work. Jesus at once proposed 
that they all retire to some secluded place for a restful 
interchange of experiences. That fear of Herod was an 
important factor in His movements seems unlikely, 
nevertheless it may have been wise to go beyond His 
immediate reach. According to Lu. 9:9 the king’s 
emissaries, were seeking for Jesus. A sufficient motive 
for the withdrawal was the desirableness of an escape 
from the insistent multitude which gave Him no peace. 


Chapter 21+. Feeding the Five Thousand 95 

Bethsaida was a village on the east bank of the Jor¬ 
dan and near the mouth of the river. It was out of 
Herod’s jurisdiction. Thither Jesus sailed, intending, 
doubtless, to find a quiet spot in its vicinity which was 
quite uninhabited. But He reckoned without the en¬ 
thusiasm and energy of the people whom He left behind. 
They could not bear to lose sight of Him again. Fol- 



Entrance of the River Jordan into the Sea of Galilee, Showing the 
Landing-place near Bethsaida Julias. 

(From 44 Leeper photographs, ” copyright, 1902. Courtesy of Hammond Publishing Co., 
Milwaukee.) 


lowing the course of His boat they ran along the shore, 
forded the Jordan, and actually reached the place of dis¬ 
embarkation before He did. 

Such earnestness never failed to draw a response from 
Jesus and to prevent any expression of reproof on His 
part. Wearied as they all were and desirous of being 
by themselves, He heartily welcomed the great multitude, 
constantly growing as the people flocked to His pres¬ 
ence, and discoursed with His wonted enthusiasm and 
attractiveness concerning the kingdom. 

The fascination of His teaching and the interruptions 
made by the many cases of healing caused the day to 
wear away unnoted. As the evening shadows began to 
fall the disciples begged him to disperse the throng that 
the people might depart to the villages for food and 
shelter. According to the record it was about passover 
time, so that manv Galilean pilgrims were on their way 
to Jerusalem. These were more than ready to delay at 





96 


The Life of Christ 


Capernaum, in order to see and hear the noted Rabbi 
of whom they had heard so much. 

There is no reason for looking upon the act of Jesus 
as obligatory. His disciples took a perfectly reasonable 
view of the situation. Wayfarers in the Orient are well 
able to take care of themselves, and doubtless the groups 
of people that followed Him up expected to do so. But 
the Master had a duty to Himself. He was the soul of 
generous friendliness, which loved to express itself in 
active hospitality. He was naturally true to the tra¬ 
ditions of the East, which honor the lavish and un¬ 
grudging exercise of hospitable opportunity and regard 
it as an exhibition of fine character. Wholly in keep¬ 
ing with these was His remark, “Give ye them to eat.” 

Ho wonder the disciples stood aghast. The Master 
had never used His power for such emergencies, except 
perhaps at Cana, and they did not rely upon it. Their 
resources seemed wofully inadequate for feeding even a 
small part of those who stood watching them. 

But their confidence in Jesus was as unfailing as His 
in the bounty and power of God. When He told them 
to find out how much provision was at hand, and then 
gave directions for seating the people in orderly fashion 
so as to be readily served, they rendered prompt and 
unquestioning obedience. Mark’s Gospel contributes a 
picturesque hint of the green grass on which the bright 
colored garments of each company gave the effect of 
garden beds dotted with flowers. 

All accounts agree in describing an actual feeding of 
the great multitude with five loaves of bread and two 
fishes, after which there were twelve baskets of frag¬ 
ments remaining. All mention His taking the scanty 
supply of food, His looking up to heaven, the asking 
the blessing of God, the breaking of the food, its distri¬ 
bution in unstinted quantity to the disciples, who in 
turn bore it to the waiting throng, and, finally, the 
direction to avoid all waste. There can be no doubt 
that the Gospel writers intended to describe an actual 
miracle, and that it is as well attested as such an event 


Chapter 25. The Crisis at Capernaum 97 

ever could be. The miracle itself is confessedly mys¬ 
terious. No one can imagine how the food could be 
multiplied while passing through the hands of Jesus, 
but so it was. To those who explain the feeding of the 
multitude as an outburst of generosity kindled among 
the by-standers by the example of Jesus, it may be asked 
how then could He have been hailed as the Messiah. If 
He were the sudden source of supply this enthusiasm is 
intelligible; the people believed that He could fulfil their 
Messianic anticipations. They went wild with excite¬ 
ment and determined to carry Him off with them to 
Jerusalem as King. So He slipped away out of their 
sight and reach. 

Mere enthusiasm is an unreliable basis for building 
up any permanently good cause. Jesus had a real es¬ 
teem for John the Baptist, although he was a critical 
friend, because he had convictions and acted upon them. 
The multitudes had no convictions, only a sentiment, 
aroused by a remarkable exhibition of generous and 
friendly power. 


Chapter 25.—The Crisis Faced at Capernaum. 

Mt. 14:24-36; Jo. 6:22-71. 

According to the Synoptic narrative of the feeding of 
the five thousand, Jesus bade His disciples enter their 
boat and precede Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed 
the multitude. With reluctance they left Him, for 
they were doubtless as excited as the thousands to whom 
they had ministered in His name. The people, accord¬ 
ing to the fourth Gospel, could not contain themselves. 
Convinced by the manifestation of the day that He was 
the long-expected Messiah, they were eager to do Him 
homage and accept His leadership. Not a few of them 
may have belonged to that body of thorough-going 
patriots known as “zealots,” who were ever ready for 
deeds of heroic violence. Regarding His reserve as an 
impracticable modesty, they were meditating how to 



The Life of Christ. 


force Him to come out openly and assume His rightful 
place. But divining their intention, Jesus slipped away 
out of their sight, leaving them to make their way dis¬ 
consolately back to the city whence the most of them 
had come. 

Solitude was never loneliness to Jesus. It was im¬ 
possible that He could be really lonely. At one moment 
only of His life did He betray a passing sense of isola¬ 
tion. Solitude was His opportunity for free com¬ 
munion with the heavenly Father. By such withdraw¬ 
als for a night of earnest prayer He kept Himself 
strong and clear in purpose. Anticipating the crucial 
importance of His next contact with the populace, and 
perhaps fearing that He might he overtempted to yield 
to their persuasions, so natural and attractive, He went 
up onto the mountain, partly to avoid an immediate out¬ 
burst of popular enthusiasm, hut in large part in order 
to prepare in God’s immediate presence to face the im¬ 
pending crisis, the serious nature of which no one real¬ 
ized more clearly than He. 

Meanwhile the disciples had been making their way 
toward Bethsaida. Not a few authorities to-day are 
inclined to question whether there was a city of this 
name situated close to Capernaum and on the western 
shore. At least it is not impossible to explain the 
events of this night with relation to the Bethsaida 
Julias which was situated near the mouth of the Jor¬ 
dan. The feeding of the five thousand took place in the 
level and fertile plain called the Buteiha, perhaps at its 
lower end. The disciples had no great distance to 
traverse, merely the length of the plain. But the wind 
which suddenlv arose was squarely against them anil 
beat them back, increasing both the time and the 
length of the voyage. All night they battled with the 
tempest until the approaching dawn found them sorely 
distressed. Just at this time, when their need was 
greatest, the Master appeared. TTe seemed to be pass¬ 
ing them by, and at first they were afraid rather than 
comforted. But when His loyed voice was heard ir. 


Chapter 25. The Crisis at Capernaum 99 

words of encouragement their fears were stilled. Ac¬ 
cording to the fourth Gospel there was a revulsion of 
feeling. They joyfully welcomed Him into the boat 
and soon were at their destination. The first Gospel 
adds to this narrative the episode of Peter’s attempt to 
walk upon the water. It is a characteristic anecdote. 
As Bruce says, it exhibits his mingled “strength and 
weakness, bravery and cowardice, generous impulses 
rather than firm, constant will,” a man capable of 
achieving great things while at fault in little ones. 

Apparently the voyage was resumed, for their next 
stopping place was the district of Gennesaret, a little' 
south of Capernaum. Ho sooner had they anchored 
than they were recognized by the people, who proceeded 
with the utmost energy to gather up the sick and bring 
them to Jesus. Mark’s vivid account suggests more 
than a few hours of ministration. Possibly it reflects 



the activity of the whole healing ministry just drawing 
to its close. The report of His presence is described as 
spreading from village to village (Mk. 6:56). Wher- 
ever Jesus went He found the infirm and unfortunate 
placed within ready reach of His kindly gaze and heal¬ 
ing touch or word. 

According to the fourth Gospel, however, on this 
same day Jesus showed Himself in Capernaum. There 
in its course the people who had been instructed and fed 
the day before found Him. Some of them at least had 
spent the night on the plain of Buteiha, hoping to see 







100 


The Life of Christ. 


Jesus again. Realizing in the morning that in some 
way He had returned with His disciples to the western 
coast, they embarked in some boats from Tiberias which 
had been driven ashore by the gale of the previous 
night, and went over to Capernaum seeking Him. 

Finding Jesus at the synagogue, they wondered how 
He had eluded their observation. The master admitted 
their enthusiasm but realized its shallowness. They 
were eager to follow Him if He would guarantee to re¬ 
lieve their wants. Their eyes had not been opened 
toward spiritual things by the demonstration, but they 
were congratulating themselves upon finding at last a 
bountiful Messiah. A ministry to such physical need 
would be endless; the food was perishable, the appetite 
never satisfied. 

Once for all Jesus determined to declare Himself. 
“Seek,” he urged, “food that abides and permanently 
satisfies, which I have come to give you.” Catching His 
general meaning some asked what it was that God 
wished each one to do. To which Jesus replied that 
they should receive the message which He as God’s am¬ 
bassador delivered to them. But their one reliable and 
unquestioned authority was Moses. They asked 
whether He was equal to that great leader, who gave 
them heavenly bread. 

This question gave Jesus an unequalled opportunity 
of which He took quick and brave advantage. He de¬ 
clared that the true bread of God both comes directly 
from Him and gives permanent spiritual life to man¬ 
kind and that He was this true bread, sent from God, 
the Father, in order that men could really begin to live 
forever. 

Naturally His auditors were staggered by such a 
declaration. They would have readily granted Him 
prophetic standing, but this was no less than a claim to 
unique partnership with God. In answer to their mur¬ 
murs Jesus added that in order to understand and ac¬ 
cept His claim they must be taught of God, given an 
insight into truth. Then making His figure more ex- 


Chapter 25. The Crisis at Capernaum 101 

plicit, ELe declared that they must eat His flesh and 
drink His blood in order to have the permanent Divine 
life. 

How natural that many should regard Him as insane 
or overwrought, and that they should cease to follow 
Him! It was a severe testing for even the most de¬ 
voted, only to be endured by those whose conceptions of 
the life of God had already in large measure been fash¬ 
ioned on the pattern of Jesus 5 own life. Peter could 
well say for these disciples, “we know that thou art the 
Holy One of God.” They were at least fairly conscious 
of feeding upon Him, of finding in close fellowship 
with Him and in the gradual assimilation of His ideals 
and methods a true quickening of their spiritual selves. 

By this figure Jesus forever gave vivid expression to 
the relationship which He would encourage with His 
followers. They must not only believe in Him but 
must seek with persistency and patience to make His 
mode of life their own. He is God’s pattern to man¬ 
kind. He affords a ready guide to the attainment of 
the Godlike life. Those who would become children 
of God require no other direction than the command to 
live according to His model, assimilating themselves 
to Him. 


102 The Life of Christ. 

Chapter 26, —The Campaigns of Jesus in Galilee. A 
Review. 

Another turning-point has been reached in the min¬ 
istry of Jesus. With the discourse in the synagogue at 
Capernaum the active propagation of the message of 
the kingdom almost came to an end. Because of the 
falling away of disciples on the one hand and the bitter 
hostility of the religious leaders of Judaism on the 
other, Jesus was for a time at least quite shut up to His 
small circle of devoted followers. 

The period under review was accordingly the period 
of aggressive evangelization, of public preaching, teach¬ 
ing and healing. It began with the choice of the 
Twelve, and was determined in large measure by the 
desire of Jesus to mould and inspire them. It ac¬ 
cepted at the outset a chronic and clever hostility on the 
part of the Pharisaic and priestly parties, neither of¬ 
ficial, however, nor deadly. Jesus maintained Himself 
without their approval by reason of the sure and strong 
impression which He made upon the people. 

The events which have been included in this period of 
about a year—the second portion of the Galilean min¬ 
istry—are numerous and important. Some of them 
are the selection of the Twelve, the Sermon on the 
Mount, the bringing to life of the son of a widow of 
Nain, the testimony to John the Baptist, the second 
preaching tour through the villages of Galilee, the 
reply of Jesus to the Pharisees who ascribed His mir¬ 
acles to the help of Satan, His wonderful parables by 
the lake-shore about the kingdom, the notable events in 
quick succession at Gerasa and Capernaum, the rejec¬ 
tion of Jesus at His boyhood village, Nazareth, His 
third preaching tour, the mission of the Twelve and 
their instructions, the death of John the Baptist, the 
feeding of the five thousand, the return to Capernaum, 
and the discourse there about Jesus as the Bread of 
Life, which precipitated a crisis in His public relations. 
It was truly a crowded year. The Gospels relate only 


103 


T Chapter 26. The Work in Galilee 

the outline of it, so to speak. The events they describe 
are but representative of many more. 

The Gospel according to Matthew gives the fullest 
presentation of this period, doing justice to all phases 
of His ministry and grouping impressively His teach¬ 
ings to His disciples and His manifestations of friendly 
power, and showing how His earnestly promoted min¬ 
istry was gradually blocked by the unresponsiveness of 
many and the hostility of the rulers. The dominant 
characteristics of the personality of Jesus seem to be 
resourcefulness, dignity, authority with benignant rec¬ 
ognition of need or longing, and judicious as well as 
dexterous management of opposition. The sermon on 
the Mount, the call to evangelization, the instructions to 
the missioners, the tribute to John and the parables of 
the kingdom are Matthew’s immortal contributions to 
the record of this period, aiding much toward its proper 
comprehension as a period of great importance. 

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes by its account of this 
breathless year the cultivation by Jesus of His circle of 
disciple-associates. His reserve with others becomes 
frankness with them. He does His work very largely 
for their sake. At least He never loses an opportunity 
to expound truth or comment upon experiences when it 
may be helpful to them. He appears, clearly etched, 
with the sanity, breadth of purpose, ethical strength and 
spiritual forcefulness which marks the truly Godlike 
man. 

Luke pays the least attention in detail to this period. 
Two of the most beautiful passages in the third Gospel, 
the story of the healing of the son of the widow of Nam 
and the story of the anointing of the feet of Jesus bv 
the woman who was a sinner, are a part of its material. 
The writer uses the well-known incidents in illustration 
of the tenderness, wisdom, sympathy and power of 
Jesus. 

From these three Gospels we gain our impression of 
the ministry of this year, the fourth Gospel merely sup¬ 
plementing in a most valuable way at the very close. 


104 


The Life of Christ 


It was a time of energetic campaigning in the syna¬ 
gogues of Galilee. These were open to Jesus and His 
representatives, no organized or authoritative steps hav¬ 
ing been taken against Him by the leaders. Through¬ 
out the period Jesus was followed by throngs which were 
desirous either of being healed or of witnessing His 
deeds of benevolent power. He was surrounded also by 
numerous disciples, more or less closely attached to Him 
and desirous of following His lead. One condition He 
had to meet is made clear by the first Gospel. His 
teachings and His gathered results were so different 
from popular expectation that He was put to a degree 
upon the defensive. The loyal-hearted John needed a 
demonstration of Messianic goodness and love, the 
great commercial centres of Galilee paid relatively slight 
heed to the “words of grace” that He uttered, His own 
relatives misinterpreted Him, His disciples needed the 
parables of the Kingdom for their encouragement and 
discipline, Herod took Him for another John the Bap¬ 
tist. No one seemed to enter unreservedly and frankly 
into His plans and methods. 

Yet He was steadily gaining ground. How much He 
had to traverse is revealed by the glimpses given us 
here and there of the curious blindness of His intimate 
companions, His chosen few. It meant a good deal, 
however, that His disciples were ready to brave the con¬ 
sequences of association with Him. As the open hos¬ 
tility to the Master increased, His followers must have 
likewise come under the ban of the leaders of Judaism. 
But in proportion as the risks increased, so grew their 
devotion. They did not completely understand Him, 
but their sense of His nobleness, kindness, great-hearted 
generosity and complete spirituality grew with each 
week of friendly contact. He was ever surprising them, 
but they were ever measuring Him. 

The results of the period were largely such as He 
won in connection with His own followers. In Galilee 
at large they were apparently meagre. Indefatigable as 
He was personally, and notwithstanding the efforts of 


Chapter 26. The Work in Galilee 


105 


the Twelve during their mission, the people of the 
province were not deeply stirred. Many were interested 
in His message, but not convinced by it. Of the thou¬ 
sands with whom He came in contact, few persisted in 
following Him. They besought Him incessantly to heal 
their sick, but few or none asked Him for forgiveness 
of sins. 

Nevertheless the "work of Jesus was a constructive 
preparation for the question which later called forth 
Peter’s confession” at Cassarea Philippi. The results 
of these months were meagre, but after all they were 
significant. The impressive teaching with authority and 
the signs wrought on those that were sick had been, it 
is true, for the most part, as seed sown on thorny or 
stony ground, but the little handful of hearers who had 
surrendered to the personal power of Jesus and were 
ready henceforth to follow His leadership was soil of the 
most fertile sort, sure to bring forth a hundredfold. 
One such convinced and loyal disciple was worth the 
trials of the year of hard campaigning. With more 
than a dozen such secured the Master might well take 
courage and speak with confidence of the church which 
was to be. 


106 The Life of Christ 

Chapter 27.—The First Northern Withdrawal. 

Mk. 7:1—8: 9. 

The declaration of Jesus to the people that He was 
the living bread from heaven which they must crave if 
they would live the Godlike life, made it clear that His 
ambitions were quite at variance with those of the 
populace. He did not even contemplate the wresting 
from the Caesars of an imperial throne; He was not so 
much concerned with their future political relations as 
with their present moral and spiritual ideals. It must 
have been sore disappointment that led so many to for¬ 
sake Him after that address in the synagogue at Caper¬ 
naum. 

But the crisis that followed was far more important 
and acute. Jesus took occasion to define with sharp¬ 
ness the radical difference between His own principles 
of religious life and those of the Pharisees. He had 
already been an object of official dislike and hatred; He 
now became an avowed critic and enemy, since He de¬ 
clared that the very basis of current Pharisaism was 
wrong. 

Pharisaism exalted scrupulousness in the interests of 
holiness. It was the large and important religious ideal 
behind the system of ceremonial regulations that gave 
it apparent justification. Men do not count the pains 
expended in the acquisition of holiness. But gradually 
the emphasis had become transferred from the moral 
preparation for holiness to the physical. He was re¬ 
garded as a righteous man in the sight of God, no less 
than in the eyes of the law, who diligently observed the 
regulations devised to prevent men from overlooking the 
precepts of the ceremonial law. Such a man wearied 
himself by following a treadmill of duty and ignored 
other and higher obligations. 

Jesus had consistently refused to be bound by Phari¬ 
saic rules of procedure. He neither fasted at set times 
in a formal way nor turned the Sabbath into a dreary 
and barren day of unusual restriction. He repeatedly 


Chapter 27. First Northern Withdrawal 107 

insisted on distinguishing between rules of procedure 
and the religious ideals which gave them standing. 
Again and again, He declared that faithfulness to cere¬ 
monial traditions was not religion. He would not have 
denied the usefulness of religious traditions of a proper 
sort, nor did He fail to enter into the usual routine of 
observances throughout the Jewish year. His hostility 
was not directed toward observances which tended to 
commemorate religious events, or to promote helpful 
habits. He merely refused to allow His own religious 
life or that of His followers to be smothered or extin¬ 
guished by a mass of useless rules of procedure. 

With characteristic courage He met the issue 
squarely and energetically. Some Jerusalem scribes, pos¬ 
sibly a deputation from the Sanhedrin, men at least of 
great importance and influence, came to Capernaum to 
question Him. In so doing they were within their 
rights, for they were the recognized guardians of the 
purity of the Jewish faith. They raised a question 
which the Master answered with reference to the fre¬ 
quent purifications regarded as obligatory upon every 
one who desired to rank as a scrupulously pious Jew. 
He accused them of making such petty and technical 
demands a reason for overlooking the plain demands of 
the law of God, and of turning religion into a business 
for experts. 

But He did not stop there. Turning to the crowd of 
auditors. He made a declaration which was virtually a 
challenge. It was the assertion that ceremonial distinc¬ 
tions are not supremely important, that the only serious 
defilement which can come to a man is that which pro¬ 
ceeds from a wicked heart or an unclean imagination. 
Hot what one eats or touches is defiling, but what one 
says, or thinks, or feels. The real expression of a man 
is his character. 

This seems commonplace now, but it was revolution¬ 
ary then. Capernaum thereupon ceased to be the effec¬ 
tive center for Him that it had been, even Galilee cared 
little for Him. Confronted by misappreciation or hos- 


108 


The Life of Christ 


tility on every hand He turned, perhaps of necessity, 
perhaps with a sense of relief, to the outlying pagan 
territory. With Him were His disciples, the Twelve at 
least and probably others. Acts 1:21, 22 presupposes 
a larger number. 

His motive in withdrawing has been variously stated. 
Whether it was for the sake of inaugurating a mission 
to non-Jewish people may well be questioned. It was 
rather to avoid observation and to secure a quiet period 
of intercourse with His chosen companions. More than 
ever now He needed to get closer to them and to win 
their deliberate faith. But one incident of the journey 
up along the coast is preserved, an episode, however, 
affording a notable contrast , to the experience He had 
just passed through. A Phoenician woman besought 
Him to heal her daughter. His reluctance only stirred 
her to more eager pleading. He avowed Himself as 
disinclined to begin a new ministry of healing and 
teaching among an alien people, but she cleverly urged 
that His immediate presence made it possible for Him 
to help her in her need. Her wit, humility, and faith 
were irresistible. Gladly the Master gave her recog¬ 
nition. 

How much of a journey the company made is not 
clear. Matthew’s Gospel describes the whole incident 
very vaguely, mentioning only the fact of going to 
Phoenicia, and the return to the sea of Galilee. Mark’s 
account makes it clear that they went northward 
through Sidon, making probable a crossing of the Leb¬ 
anon range toward Damascus, and a return southward 
to Decapolis and the sea of Galilee. Each Gospel is 
meagre in details. 

Peaching the shore of the sea, He was again sur¬ 
rounded by eager people. Here they brought before 
Him a deaf man whose speech had been impaired. 
Desirous of avoiding notice, Jesus took the man aside 
from the multitude. He then made use of unusual 
methods, doubtless intended to rouse the interest of the 
man and to draw out his faith. The cure profoundly 


Chapter 27. First Northern Withdrawal 109 

impressed the people. Despite the commands of Jesus, 
they eagerly spread the story of His beneficent acts. 

Hence a multitude gathered around Him, absorbed by 
His words and deeds. Jesus had previously been pre¬ 
vented by popular opposition from exercising His min¬ 
istry helpfully in the Decapolis. Their eagerness He 
could hardly resist. For three days the ministry con¬ 
tinued. By that time the provisions which the people 



View in the Lebanon /"fountains. From a photograph. 


had brought with them were exhausted. With His 
usual thoughtful generosity Jesus proposed that the 
multitude be fed. Blessing and distributing the few 
provisions at hand, He sent them away refreshed. 

There is little profit in seeking to prove or disprove 
such a miracle as the feeding of the four thousand. It 
was the Master’s way to do such things, not to save 
trouble for His auditors, but to reveal to them the gen¬ 
erous love of God. 

The declaration of Jesus to the scribes has eternal 
significance. Religion is service but not servitude; it 
is evidenced by character, not by patience in routine 
observance; it avoids casuistry, but honors an earnest 
and deliberate faith. 









no 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 28.—The Second Withdrawal to the North: 

Peter’s Confession. 

Mt. 15 : 39—16: 28; Mk. 8:10—9 :1. 

Jesus and His disciples after completing their work 
in the Decapolis, crossed over, either to the vicinity of 
Capernaum or to a point near the southern end of the 
lake. No sooner was His presence reported than some 
of the representative Jews came to enter into discussion 
with Him. Their hostility was quite marked. They 
demanded that Jesus show them a genuine sign from 
heaven. Had they really desired enlightenment, Jesus 
would have treated their request with respect and ex¬ 
plained His ideals. But they were only eager to make 
trouble for Him, not to be convinced of His Messiah- 
ship. He therefore refused, point-blank, as Mark’s 
Gospel reports. His ministry had been crowded with 
significant events. They needed only to keep their 
eyes open in order to have abundant and satisfying evi¬ 
dence of His sincerity, goodness and power. 

Jesus did not remain very long among His enemies. 
He found it more profitable to withdraw again to a 
region where He was unknown and might be undis¬ 
turbed. Going to Bethsaida, He began with His disci¬ 
ples a slow, appar¬ 
ently aimless wan¬ 
dering toward the 
north, among the 
villages of Caesarea 
Philippi, a journey 
given up to con¬ 
versations rather 
than to deeds. 

It was a critical 
time. Only by con¬ 
tinued and close 
fellowship with the 
disciples could He help them to acquire such 
a faith in Him that the disparagement or hostil- 



View on the Road to Caesarea Philippi. 








Chapter 28. Second Withdrawal to the North 111 

ity of their natural leaders could not shake their 
allegiance. They could readily see that each one of 
them was being brought face to face with a momentous 
choice. There was no common ground for Jesus and 
the scribes to occupy. All must have been thinking of 
the crisis and its possible consequences. 

But in the mind of Jesus was a far deeper thought. 
Looking back over His active ministry, He was forced 
to the conclusion that outside of the circle of disciples 
He had no reliable following. The influential classes 
were against Him. With the common people He had 
been popular. They liked His preaching and took 
eager advantage of His power to heal. They had even 
queried whether He were the Coming One. But, at its 
best, it was curiosity and friendliness, rather than a 
growing faith. As His disciples made clear, the popular 
sentiment was superficial, evincing no real comprehen¬ 
sion of His personality and affording no reliable basis 
for the upbuilding of a sturdy faith. Whether the dis¬ 
ciples themselves had this sort of faith was the crucial 
question. Had their close intercourse with Him, their 
witness of His daily life, brought to them more than 
love and confidence? Long may Jesus have pondered 
over this question before He put them to the test, for 
upon their reply hung the fruitfulness of His active 
ministry. If His disciples had not understood Him, no 
one could. 

The Gospel of Mark, which so often affords the clue 
to the development of the ministry, emphasizes two facta 
concerning this declaration of Messiahship; first, that 
the Galilean ministry then came practically to a close; 
second, that it opened the way for a marked change in 
His methods and teachings. Henceforth His work cen¬ 
tered frankly on the disciples, the people being sec¬ 
ondary. The Gospel according to Matthew is a more 
important witness, placing the episode in its true relief. 
The whole plan of the Gospel seems to turn at the ac¬ 
count of Peter’s declaration of loyalty. Up to that 
time, Jesus was described as proclaiming to all who 


112 


The Life of Christ 


would hear Him in various ways the good news about 
the kingdom of heaven; thereafter (16:21) He dis¬ 
cussed Messiahship and discipleship to His followers 
and gave Himself assiduously to their preparation for 
the important career which awaited them. 

It was as usual the outspoken, impulsive, loyal- 
hearted Peter who voiced for Jesus the conviction of 
the disciples: “Thou art the Christ,” not merely a 
Messianic forerunner, nor a prophet of Israel, nor 
merely a good and noble man, but the Christ Himself, 
the true Herald of God, the Dayspring from on high. 

One can hardly believe that Jesus received so won¬ 
derful a confession without emotion. The accounts of 
Mark and Luke seem barren. The story of the first 
Gospel is inherently probable. Jesus must have realized 
the significance of the confession and given some ex¬ 
pression to His feeling. Such faith as this He had 
been seeking. It had grown out of an insight fostered 
by God Himself, rather than from traditions or hopes. 
It was a growing faith and would become enlightened, 
giving clearness and finality to the future deliberate 
judgments of His spiritual successors, in matters of 
religious faith and practice. 

Yet the declarations of Peter signified no more than 
a beginning. The Christ in his mind, and in that of 
others, was in large degree the Christ of tradition. 
While the confidence of the disciples in their Master 
made them willing to await His pleasure, yet they ex¬ 
pected Him in due time to fulfil the current Messianic 
expectations, setting up an earthly kingdom, conquering 
the nations, inaugurating a universal rule. They had 
no idea of the actual future. They had only gripped 
the fundamental fact that He was indeed the God-sent 
Messiah. 

Without delay Jesus began to set before them the 
truer conception of what Christhood and consequently 
discipleship. meant. His task was the more difficult 
because their minds were not plastic. From earliest, 
boyhood Messiahship had meant for them a triumphant 


Chapter 28. Second Withdrawal to the North 113 

leadership of Israel to the realization of glory and 
resourcefulness and power, and the attainment of uni¬ 
versal dominion. When He spoke of humility, suffer¬ 
ing, and service, they simply could not take it in. With 
His customary impulsiveness, Peter rebuked the Mas¬ 
ter for so blighting their reasonable hopes. What folly 
for the Christ to talk about being the victim of the 
authorities and losing His life! But Jesus declared 
that this well-meant interference was only evil in its 
effect. It substituted a human will for that of God. 
The Divine pathway marked out not alone for Jesus 
but for His disciples, was a way of self-denial, of 
unselfish devotion to the interests of others, of the 
definite subordination of personal interests to those of 
God and humankind. 

The comparison with which the Master concluded His 
appeal is still a living and quickening query. It raises 
the question of the true and permanent values of life. 
What are those elements of life which are precious 
beyond all others, which cannot be granted in exchange 
for any amount of selfish prosperity, or personal advan¬ 
tage? Are these to be won only by a deliberate rejec¬ 
tion of the selfish theory of life and adoption of the 
passion for service ? 

Men and women of to-day are called upon to make 
the very decision which the disciples made, and after 
the same deliberate contact with His personality. We 
have the advantage of being able to view the Master 
through their eyes, a fond and often blinded gaze, yet 
one which centred upon facts which have had eternal 
meaning. Like Luke, we who view His life from a dis¬ 
tance and in its perspective almost lose sight of the 
momentous character of Peter’s declaration, for we see 
that no other verdict could meet the facts. 


114 


The Life of Christ 

Chapter 29.—The Transfiguration. 

Mt. 17:24-27; Mk. 9:2-50. 

The Synoptic Gospels record the fact that Jesus 
and His disciples lingered, after Peter’s epoch-making 
declaration, in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi. These 
were doubtless days of the eager discussion of the 
strange assertions which Jesus had made, assertions 
which they could not fully appreciate at the time. Per¬ 
haps He explained to them from the Scriptures the sig¬ 
nificance to the righteous of suffering. The thoughts 
of all were centered upon the defeat and disgrace which 
seemed to be implied by His words. In the mouth of 
any other one than their beloved Master the statement 
would have sounded absurd, but He was not given to 
trifling, and had spoken with deliberate care. 

The trouble with the disciples was their fixed, inher¬ 
ited ideas concerning the Messiah. To associate Messiah- 
ship with sacrifice or shame was difficult. It needed such 
an event as the transfiguration to exhibit Jesus in a way 
which revealed and emphasized His glory. By it the 
astounded disciples were made to grasp both ideas and 
connect them with Jesus. The conceptions were still 
unrelated in their thinking but were available in the 
future. 

For Jesus, too, the transfiguration must have had 
great significance. The Gospels show us how continu¬ 
ally dependent He was on a prayerful communion with 
His heavenly Father for strength. It was the sense 
of divine approval that sustained His courage and kept 
clear His purpose. As at the baptism, so at the trans¬ 
figuration, He received a fresh conviction of God’s 
close presence and unwearying care, and an assurance 
that however bitter might be the experiences He had to 
face, the glory attained would be greater. 

One day, probably toward evening, Jesus went away 
up into the mountain near at hand, taking with Him, 
as was His frequent custom, the three disciples who 
formed the inner circle of the Twelve. There are nat- 


Chapter 29. The Transfiguration 


115 


ural distinctions in every disciple circle which no leader 
can or need ignore. Peter, James and John were the 
most capable of ready sympathy and appreciation. 
There was apparently no jealousy among the disciples 
of this intimacy. These three knew Him better than 
the others and interpreted Him to them. It was a duty 
so sacred and important that it did not unduly uplift 
those who performed it nor anger those who were 
passed by. 

The little company ascended an unnamed mountain. 
Christian tradition favors Tabor as the scene of the 
transfiguration, whereas current opinion inclines to 
Hermon. The narrative affords no clue which gives 
certainty, although Mk. 9:30, 33 points to Hermon. 
If the disciple-group remained near Caesarea Philippi 
the mountain was unquestionably Hermon. But the 
exact location is of slight importance. It is perhaps 
significant that few or none of the scenes of important 
events in the life of Jesus are accurately known. 



The third Gospel states that the original purpose of 
Jesus was to seek seclusion for communion with God. 
This gives a natural explanation to the incident, wholly 
congruous with the character of Jesus. It may be ques¬ 
tioned whether the transfiguring was not incidental and 
as unexpected to Jesus as to the three witnesses, an¬ 
other opportune testimony to Him as well as to them, 
of the Father’s watchfulness and love. When the Mas¬ 
ter went apart, as was His custom, to pray, the three 









116 


The Life of Christ 

tried, no doubt, to watch with Him. Luke tells us that 
they were struggling with sleepiness when suddenly 
there came a change which made them instantly wide 
awake and alert. As the Master prayed a heavenly 
light illumined His countenance and His whole per¬ 
sonality was radiant with dazzling brightness, passing 
the power of words to describe. But He was not alone. 
On either side stood two men whom they knew to be 
Moses and Elijah. They were talking with Him re¬ 
garding His approaching death. Soon they seemed to 
be about to depart and Peter, hardly knowing what he 
was saying, proposed that he make three tabernacles 
that they might remain. But a cloud seemed to over¬ 
shadow them all, out of which came a voice which wit¬ 
nessed concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son; hear 
ye him.” After the voice they looked around and saw 
no one but Jesus, who came to them in His natural form 
with a reassuring word. 

Some interpreters regard this experience as purely 
subjective, although intensely real. The significance of 
it to the disciples and to Jesus was of course the same, 
whether it was objective or subjective. That it was 
seen by all three disciples sufficiently guaranteed its 
definiteness and meaning. If a vision it was a vision 
caused by God, not an accident. But the natural inter¬ 
pretation of the Gospel narratives implies that it was 
objectively real. It assured the disciples that the death 
of the Messiah which had so sorely troubled their minds 
was really in line with prophetic and national expecta¬ 
tion. It also gave them a new assurance that Jesus was 
the Messiah He claimed to be—so at least early Chris¬ 
tian thinking agreed—and reminded them of their obli¬ 
gation to listen to His words. 

It seems clear that the meaning of this experience 
was not grasped by the disciples at once. No wonder 
Jesus charged them to keep it locked within their 
breasts, until the course of events would make it intel¬ 
ligible. They were puzzled by the appearance of Elijah 
and wondered whether it was the fulfilment of Malachi’s 


Chapter 29. The Transfiguration 117 

prediction, made so much of by the scribes. Jesus 
indeed affirmed that an Elijah had come, but unrecog¬ 
nized and opposed, one whose fate prefigured His own. 
They then perceived that He meant John the Baptist. 

Returning the next day to the base of the mountain 
Jesus found His disciples confronted by a case of dis¬ 
ease, which seems to have been epilepsy, with which they 
were unable to deal. The father’s despairing plea 
touched the Master’s heart. With a sigh which spoke 
volumes of weariness over the continued sluggishness of 
their spiritual life He drew on the father in kindly 
fashion to urge his love and pledge his faith and then 
cured the boy. Mark’s elaborate description shows 
that the scene made a tremendous impression on some 
eyewitnesses. The disciples wondered why their power 
had been stayed. Jesus told them it was because they 
had not expected that the cure would be performed. 
Only a believing appeal to the power of God was ade¬ 
quate either in His case or in theirs. 

There was great fitness in the message with which 
the beautiful vision was brought to a close. Those who 
are granted visions of spiritual realities, such as aver¬ 
age men and women rarely gain, incur responsibilities 
correspondingly great. Theirs is an obligation to ren¬ 
der intelligent and obedient leadership in the spirit of 
Christ’s commands. 

His commandments are to be executed obediently 
because He is the adequate and intelligible revealer of 
the will and purpose of God. Therefore His words 
have unquestionable authority and unending value. 


118 


The Life of Christ 


Chapter 30.—Jesus at the Feast of the Tabernacles. 

Jo. chs. 7, 8. 

During the days following the transfiguration, the 
group of disciples with Jesus continued their unob¬ 
trusive, leisurely progress through Galilean territory, 
making gradually toward Capernaum. Mark’s Gospel 
(9:30) implies that Jesus was at considerable pains to 
keep out of the public eye. Naturally they all con¬ 
tinued to discuss the theme that was uppermost in their 
minds and that weighed on every heart. It was the 
great opportunity for Jesus to connect by repeated and 
insistent explanations His accepted Messiahship with 
the possibility of treatment not merely hostile, but vin¬ 
dictive. Had He failed to establish this connection, 
the event itself would have been a disaster almost 
irreparable, instead of an enlightening triumph. Its 
meaning was by no means grasped by the disciples. 
To them Messiahship, in spite of all that the Master 
could say, spelled glory rather than sacrifice, and oppor¬ 
tunity rather than obligation. The larger view could 
only come through sadly enlightening experience. 

In some mysterious way, the confidence which the 
Three must have had after their unique and blessed 
experience on the mountain communicated itself to the 
whole company. Paying little heed to the predictions of 
Jesus, they let themselves dwell with delight upon that 
aspect of Messiahship which they did understand. 
Visions of a glorious future dazzled their eyes. Before 
long they were in the heat of an intense discussion over 
precedence. Doubtless there was no question as to the 
place of the first three or four. Their intimacy with 
the Master gave them an unquestioned primacy. The 
problem concerned the others and their relative fitness 
for important posts. 

That they could continue such a disputation argues 
that now, as later, Jesus was much alone, “going before 
them” (Mk. 10: 32), wrapped in deep thought of what 
was before Him. But He was never so abstracted as 


Chapter SO. Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles 119 

to be oblivious to the needs and conditions of those who 
were with Him. He knew His disciples so well that 
the trend of their thoughts was perfectly apparent to 
Him. They needed a lesson which should at once 
rebuke, enlighten and appeal. 

With His accustomed considerateness, He took an 
object lesson by which to illustrate and enforce the prin¬ 
ciple which He set forth. Having reached Capernaum, 
when all were together in a house, still desirous of 
avoiding public attention, He suddenly asked the theme 
of their earnest discussion on the road. While they 
were in confusion from very shame of acknowledging 
their ambitious desires, Jesus took in His arms a little 
child, declaring that he was a true symbol of the 
disciple. 

What Jesus meant by this and by His further declar¬ 
ation that primacy in the heavenly kingdom was granted 
to him who excelled in serviceableness, is clear yet 
debatable. It was childlikeness not childishness, that 
He meant. The disciple is one among many, a mem¬ 
ber of the great family of God, bound to conduct himself 
towards every one as a brother and friend. The 
frankness, the friendliness, the joy in service, the simple 
trustfulness of the child, should be his. 

Trained as were the Twelve in the school of legalism 
which paid stricter attention to retribution or penalty 
than to free forgiveness, no wonder that Peter inquired 
one day regarding the limits of forgiveness. The para¬ 
ble of the unmerciful servant was the reply. God has 
forgiven such great transgressions of ours that no 
human score can count in comparison with it. There 
is practically no limit to the exercise of a forgiving 
spirit. 

The feast of tabernacles drew rapidly near. There 
was a general expectation that Jesus would make His 
appearance at Jerusalem. His brethren, who had little 
comprehension of His thought or plans, urged Him to 
seize the opportunity to make a public demonstration of 
the validity of His claims. But Jesus was not ready 


120 


The Life of Christ 


yet to present Himself in a challenging way as the 
Messiah at Jerusalem. He was still avoiding demon¬ 
strations but inviting confidence. He made His way 
quietly to the city, where there had been much exchange 
of varying sentiment regarding Him among the gath¬ 
ered multitudes. The curious fact is that they 
regarded Him as being everything but a Messiah. They 
willingly acknowledged Him to have prophetic gifts 
and practical wisdom, but He answered in but few 
respects to their ideas of what the Messiah would be. 

Jesus simply claimed to be the true representative of 
God, doing His will, declaring His truth, exhibiting 
His spirit, and carrying out His purposes. He 
demanded confidence on the ground of His absolute 
unselfishness and freedom from wrong-doing. He 
reproved His critics for wilful refusal to see facts as 
they were and to judge accordingly. Many were deeply 
impressed by His words. 

It was perhaps after the great ceremonial of the 
closing day of the feast that Jesus appealed to the 
people, describing Himself as the source of living 
water, eternally refreshing the soul. Through Him 
they were to know God with intimacy. His words 
thrilled all who heard. Even the officers of the temple 
guards, hardened as they were, could not but regard 
Him with awe. 

With equal pertinence, at the time of the lighting 
of the great candelabra in the court, Jesus declared 
Himself to be the light of the world, its guide in a 
world of moral darkness, the assurance of its growth to 
moral strength. Life cannot flourish without light. 
When Jesus described His relation to the human world 
under these figures, He virtually declared Himself to be 
an indispensable factor in life. 

There were many important discussions and 
declarations during the period that Jesus delayed in 
Jerusalem. Speaking to some who were disposed to 
accept Him, He declared that those who heartily fol¬ 
lowed His teaching would gain spiritual freedom. 


Chapter SI. Mission of the Seventy 121 

Offended at this hint of bondage they claimed to be the 
free children of Abraham, but Jesus declared that their 
unwillingness to hear and obey the truth showed them 
rather to be the bond slaves of Satan, the father of lies. 
Those who lived the life He was urging would find that 
life unending. Shocked as were the bystanders by their 
understanding of His meaning, it was nothing in com¬ 
parison to their horror at His solemn declaration that 
before even Abraham, He was in the world. It was an 
unmistakable claim of divinity. Like so many of His 
sayings over which subsequent centuries have pondered, 
it needed time for its apprehension and application. 

These declarations of Jesus were helpful in the 
extreme. His figures mean much. He sustains, re¬ 
freshes, interprets, develops, illumines, exhibits life as it 
really is and as it ought to be. The one who takes Him 
as an example is cultivating true Godlikeness. 


Chapter 31. — The iTlssion the Seventy. 

Lu. 9 : 51—11:13. 

When Jesus returned to Galilee after His long con¬ 
tinued absence, it had become painfully evident that 
the province had ceased to be a suitable scene for His 
ministry. At every turn He met with prejudice, indif¬ 
ference, and open hostility. His enemies were now well 
organized and shrewdly led. The Pharisees of Judea 
were making common cause against Him with those of 
Galilee. Probably He found Himself excluded from 
the free use of the village synagogues, which had been 
His accustomed preaching places. Galilee as well as 
Judea had become unavailable for His ministry. 

From the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, one might 
infer from the brief account of the following period that 
Jesus, in consequence of this interference with His free¬ 
dom of teaching, centered His attention upon His dis¬ 
ciples. They give a truthful impression, although not 



122 


The Life of Christ 


a complete one. Jesus did predominantly aim to de¬ 
velop far-sighted, self-reliant, sympathetic disciples. 
But His method was partly indirect. He seemed ac¬ 
cording to the other Gospels to become very active 
again. The Gospel of Luke in particular attributes to 
Him at this time, between the Transfiguration and the 
last week at Jerusalem, a marked increase in teaching 
and preaching and healing. It locates this activity 
neither mainly in Judea nor in Galilee, but here and 
there in the region on the other side of the river Jordan, 
called by Josephus, Perea. The fourth Gospel describes 
two visits to Jerusalem during these months. Thus the 
period was one of movement to and fro without a spe¬ 
cific goal, the opportunity of the moment determining 
its character and direction. 

The country which we know as Perea was under the 
control of Herod Antipas. It was open, however, as a 
refuge to Jesus and His followers and as an opportun¬ 
ity for preaching, because it was religiously even freer 
than Galilee, being far more under the influence of 
Greek and Roman civilization. The proximity of the 
free cities of the Decapolis had a perceptible liberalizing 
influence. Perea was practically a foreign country full 
of Jews, who valued prosperity above orthodoxy. The 
Jews of Judea and Galilee felt distinctly superior to 
those who dwelt in Perea, yet had no such antagonism 
for them as for Samaritans. Jesus and His company 
could wander from village to village with freedom and 
without fear. Of this opportunity He seemed now to 
take full advantage. If Luke’s allotment of incidents 
is chronological, the experiences of the early Galilean 
ministry were repeated again and again. 

For this work of evangelization Jesus prepared by 
sending before Him the seventy disciples. That He 
had so many followers equipped for doing responsible 
service comes as a surprise to the reader of the Gospels, 
whose attention is continually focussed upon the little 
group of twelve. By Luke more than by the other Gos¬ 
pels one is prepared to understand the real situation, 


123 


Chapter 31. Mission of the Seventy 

exhibited by the manifest reluctance of the religious 
rulers to proceed to extreme measures with Jesus in 
public, and confirmed by Paul’s “five hundred brethren 
at once” (1 Cor. 15: 6). Jesus had by this time a con¬ 
siderable body of tried, intelligent, earnest disciples, 
who were ready to rally round Him when He came 
within their vicinity, many of them following Him 
everywhere. Had He chosen to send out two hundred, 
that number might have been as readily at His disposal. 

Many regard the number sent forth as indicative of 
the symbolic purpose of Jesus. Seventy was as repre¬ 
sentative a number to the mind of a Jew as twelve. The 
latter distinctly stood for the ideal Israel and had no 
wider significance. The mission of the Twelve was to 
the nation and to it alone. The number seventy rep¬ 
resented in the Jewish mind the whole world. It is a 
Jewish round number denoting often in Scripture a 
large number of people whose exact enumeration is un¬ 
known. Whether used loosely or specifically’ its gen¬ 
eral significance must have been that the Seventy were 
commissioned to carry the Gospel message to all races. 
This broadening of the scope of Jesus’ ministry had be¬ 
come inevitable. The Jesus of the closing half year of 
the active ministry was one who was no longer exclu¬ 
sively thinking about His countrymen; He rather had 
His vision set upon the great world of humankind. 

The seventy disciples were sent forth to prepare the 
way before Him, perhaps to enable Jesus to use His 
scanty remaining time to greater advantage, or to in¬ 
sure His hearty reception where He might not be 
known. They were given directions similar to those 
issued to the Twelve. They were to go straight to their 
destination, avoiding all distractions, devoting them¬ 
selves entirely to their work, allowing neither hospitality 
nor opposition to interfere. The added note of judg¬ 
ment became appropriate to the situation, as the end of 
the ministry drew near. 

They went forth with glad hearts and gradually re¬ 
joined the Master, reporting a successful mission, 


124 


The Life of Christ 


elated at the power they had exercised. Jesus replied 
by showing to them the significance of that power. No 
evil influence could prevail against them, whether fraud 
or force. But they had something better yet to stand 
for. They had become citizens of heaven, redeemed 
into serviceableness. No wonder that Jesus rejoiced at 
this triumph of faith! These disciples, avowedly vic¬ 
torious, were, in popular consideration, neither wise nor 
enlightened like the Pharisees. But they had become 
wise in the counsels of God to know spiritual realities. 
Here again Jesus recognized and declared the world¬ 
wide difference between true religion as He viewed it, 
and as it was viewed by His contemporaries. How suit¬ 
ed to His mood was the gracious invitation of Matthew 
11:28-30! 

Two characteristic narratives are given by Luke in 
this connection, each illustrating a phase of the active 
life of Jesus. His method as a teacher is shown by the 
parable of the good Samaritan. It was so true to the 
every-day possibilities of life that it drove home its 



moral. Jesus used it to illustrate genuine neighbor¬ 
liness, as being an active sympathy for the one at hand 
who is in need, whatever his race or creed. The visit at 
the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany throws light 
upon the loving friendships of Jesus with those who 
opened their hearts to Him and how He ever used its 
opportunities for gentle and helpful ministry. He did 
not reprove Martha for her spirit of service which was 









Chapter 32. Jesus the True Shepherd 125 

her religion. He rather defended Mary for concentra¬ 
tion on her opportunity for loving fellowship. 

The mission of the Seventy was truly typical of the 
continuous service to which Christ is ever summoning 
disciples, that they may prepare mankind to hear His 
words. For such service the essential preparation is 
true discipleship. It will come to mean true neighbor¬ 
liness, true Christlikeness and great effectiveness. 


Chapter 32 ,—The Third Presentation at Jerusalem; Jesus 
the True Shepherd of Men. 

Jo. chs. 9, 10. 

The fourth Gospel is the sole authority for a visit of 
Jesus to Jerusalem at the feast of Dedication, at 
which time He seems to have healed the man born 
blind and used the beautiful allegories of the Door and 
Shepherd. Such a visit was characteristic and natural. 
He had at the holy city, so dear to Him, not a few faith¬ 
ful followers, unnoticeable, no doubt, in the throng of 
the indifferent or the hostile, yet giving promise of 
others who when won over to belief in Him would be 
influential in bringing many more. His visits at this 
period to the very stronghold of fanatical Judaism ex¬ 
hibit His qualities of calm courage, serene hopefulness 
and unswerving confidence in the divine care. When¬ 
ever a great throng from all the country could be ex¬ 
pected at Jerusalem He tried to be present. 

The feast of Dedication was such a popular festi¬ 
val, a time of genuine celebration with enough of reli¬ 
gious significance to give it permanence and prestige. 
It gathered crowds of Jews to Jerusalem who were in 
their least fanatical mood. Jesus may have visited 
Jerusalem much oftener than the record indicates. His 
visit at this time is chronicled because of its interesting 
outcome. 

During the feast the Master’s attention was drawn 



126 


The Life of Christ 


by His disciples to a case of hapless misery which moved 
them to propound that perpetual query of the conscien¬ 
tious Israelite, who believed in the righteous govern¬ 
ment of God and His exact distribution of justice to 

all mankind. Here was a 
son of Israel blind from 
his birth. They wondered 
who was responsible for 
this calamity. To such 
casuistry, extremely dear 
to rabbinical minds who 
loved to distribute exact 
portions of guilt and pen¬ 
alty, Jesus was unrespon¬ 
sive. He declared that it 
was not a case for judg¬ 
ment but for relief to ex¬ 
hibit the goodness of God 
rather than His justice. 
So saying He anointed 
the man’s eyes with clay 
hastily moulded, and 
directed him to make his way to the pool of Siloam and 
wash. In this large-hearted fashion He made it easier 
for the man to comply. 

This notable miracle created a public sensation. The 
neighbors of the man could scarcely trust their own 
eyes when they saw the man with normal vision. 
Brought before the Pharisees in order to have his case 
explained, these leaders were deeply perplexed. They 
tried at first to dismiss the matter by raising an issue 
of Sabbath-breaking. Confronted by the unquestion¬ 
able fact of the healing by Jesus and unable to brow¬ 
beat the former sufferer into a denial, they deliberately 
excommunicated him. This was a serious penalty for 
him. It put him socially and religiously on the plane 
of a leper, avoided by all. 

The manifest injustice of this treatment brought 
Jesus and the man quickly together. He became con- 









Chapter 32. Jesus the True Shepherd 127 

vinced that Jesus was one whom he would gladly fol¬ 
low. His attitude and that of the Pharisees gave an¬ 
other occasion for Jesus to frankly say that the latter 
were blinded by their persistent and deliberate prejudg¬ 
ment of all that He said or did. 

Their treatment of the man and of Jesus gave oc¬ 
casion to one of the finest allegorical declarations in the 
Gospels. Using a figure familiar and dear to all read¬ 
ers of the prophetic messages, Jesus gave emphatic ex¬ 
pression to the wide difference between the Pharisaic 
spirit and His own. Ho figure could be at once so sim¬ 
ple and yet so far-reaching as that of the Shepherd. 
Jeremiah and Ezekiel alike loved to use it to describe 
the One who was to appear and be the true representa¬ 
tive of the righteous Father to His obedient people. 
When Jesus declared Himself to be the Good Shepherd 
He did far more than make a happy illustration; He 
made a distinctively Messianic claim, and placed the 
cold-hearted Pharisees in the category of those selfish 
enemies of Israel with which the nation’s greatest lead¬ 
ers had ever been in antagonism. 

The great indictment of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day 
was that as a body they were indifferent to the in¬ 
terests of the individual. They had built up a great 
religious machine to which all other values were sacri¬ 
ficed. They had thus gradually ceased to be responsive 
to divine influences or to seek for them in other than 
established forms. Their unwillingness to be taught 
was the great obstacle to any reform. 

Jesus was like a shepherd, ever watchful for every 
one of His sheep, dealing with each one in the way that 
his need directed, knowing them and known by them, 
giving even His life on their behalf. The figure ex¬ 
pressed tenderness, thoughtfulness, affection, patience, 
wisdom, self-devotion combined with courage, resource¬ 
fulness, and zeal. Tt sums up the positive virtues of 
true leadership, and excludes the technical, unfeeling 
professional attitude so easy for religious leaders to as¬ 
sume. 


128 


The Life of Christ 


The second allegory of the Door was much more as¬ 
sertive. By it Jesus meant that through Him men 
would find their real religious home. His followers 
have not merely fullness of life, hut freedom and sub¬ 
sistence. All that gives life real significance is the 
natural possession of the one who enters into glad fel¬ 
lowship with Jesus. 

These were wonderful words. They forced from re¬ 
luctant lips a confession of His remarkable personality. 
Some appealed to Him to declare Himself publicly as 
the Messiah. But He had ever left others to draw this 
conclusion from the impression made upon them by His 
life. He would not force an unwilling and meaning¬ 
less allegiance, asserting that God had given Him some 
followers who were irrevocably His own, for He and 
His Father were one. 

This claim stirred some of the ever-excitable Jews to 
stone Him for blasphemy. With an ad-hominem argu¬ 
ment which seems to be intended to silence them by 
their own favorite method of argumentation Jesus de¬ 
nied the charge of blasphemy, showing that the Scrip¬ 
tures sanctioned a man in calling himself a son of God. 
He reverted, however, to His real argument that a valid 
proof of His mission and character was to be found in 
His deeds. They carried independent and final evi¬ 
dence of His relationship with God. 

The words of Jesus during this hasty visit are full 
of value for all time. He set the working standard for 
every life. Every follower of His is bound to take 
toward his fellowmen the shepherd attitude of unselfish 
serviceableness. He also declared a searching principle 
of selection, when He called Himself the Door. The 
only way into God’s kingdom is through Him, and by 
the acceptance of His standards of life and duty and 
love. 


Chapter 83. Opposition and Popularity 129 

Chapter 33.—Renewed Pharisaic Opposition and Popular 
Enthusiasm. 

Lu. 11 : 37—14 : 24. 

The narrative in the Gospel according to Luke of 
these days of wandering in the trans-Judaic villages 
gives the impression of days crowded with incidents and 
throbbing with interest. The common people once more 
followed Him in throngs, drawn in part by curiosity, to 
some extent by reverence, but most of all (Lu. 11: 53—• 
12:1) by the public indications of differences between 
Him and their religious leaders. He devoted Himself 
to the scribes and Pharisees and to the populace, yet 
with a consistent remembrance, after all, of the faith¬ 
ful disciples never far away from Him, whose interests 
were so inseparably bound up with His and who had 
made so many heroic sacrifices to show their loyalty for 
Him. 

Luke gives several characteristic illustrations of His 
dealings with the leaders. He seemed to receive atten¬ 
tions now and then from them, due neither to friendli¬ 
ness nor to hostility, but to a frank desire, natural to 
men of education, who were sure of their own position 
and power, to discuss freely with a fresh and vigorous 
mind like His the questions which were of paramount 
interest to them. Jesus knew them well and the motives 
which underlay their hospitality, and accepted their in¬ 
vitations with readiness and serene independence. His 
table-talk, as reported by Luke, was keen and dignified. 
The rupture that took place was their fault, not His. 

Jesus had little patience with their endless unneces¬ 
sary performances. The theory of the Pharisees of His 
day was that by very greatly overdoing a desirable act 
it would be more surely performed to the needful extent. 
They multiplied washings and prayers and fasts and 
every other proper action until life lost all its buoyancy 
and zest and became a treadmill of inexorable duty. 
They then turned around and wearied themselves in de¬ 
vising ways of avoiding the tasks thus imposed. For 


130 


The Life of Christ 


all except tlie naturally sincere, who force themselves to 
hardship, their religious life became a great sham, a 
pretense at religion, nothing more than a religious 
trade. 

Against this spirit Jesus always cried out. With 
merciless frankness He revealed to them their hideous 
corruption. Wondered at for neglecting the ceremonial 
ablution before taking food, He answered by declaring 
that they were solicitous about external purity but heed¬ 
less of inward wickedness; they wasted precious time 
over trifles and were unable to give attention to justice 
and piety. They were ever thinking of themselves 
rather than of God, and of their interests more than 
His. 

The Pharisees were laymen, but their kindred in 
spirit were the professionals, the scribes, who resented 
the Master’s criticisms, as words which might apply to 
them as well. He entirely agreed with their opinion, 
but added special reasons for denouncing them, such as 
the delight in manufacturing new religious duties which 
they themselves shirked, their continued opposition to 
true religious leaders, and their blinding of the people. 
Naturally such uncompromising talk made them hostile 
and anxious to find a means of discomfiting Him. They 
plied Him with questions, but without avail. 

There follow in the account of Luke a series of say¬ 
ings to the multitude which are found in other connec¬ 
tions in other Gospels. These duplicates raise the old 
question whether Jesus used these sayings repeatedly or 
the writers fitted them, each in his own way, into his 
story of the active life of Jesus. Doubtless each view is 
partly true. Jesus may well have repeated some of His 
sayings with some freedom in accordance with His gen¬ 
eral plan. 

One of those who had joined Him, encouraged by His 
championship of the rights of the people, begged Jesus 
to act as arbiter in a family dispute. In refusing this 
request Jesus used the parable of the foolish rich man 
to exhibit the shortsightedness of one whose whole life 


Chapter 33. Opposition and Popularity 131 

goes into the making and storing of money. When it 
ends he is no better off than when he began the struggle. 

To avoid the Pharisaic temper, the self-centered life 
and little ambitions was the burden of His advice. He 
seemed to think of the prevailing danger as that of a 
careless, thoughtless enjoyment of life without the ele¬ 
ment of preparation for a larger future. His follower, 
however, like a faithful servant, would be found always 
ready and watchful. 

Peter wondered whether Jesus meant to include all 
of His disciples by this warning or only the few who 
were His closest followers. Jesus replied by indicating 
that there were no distinctions in responsibility, but 
only in capacity. The true follower of Jesus is always 
rendering all the stewardship of time or energy or 
brotherliness of which he is capable. A lapse into domi¬ 
neering, or selfishness, or laziness, or any other kind of 
negligence, is unfaithfulness which marks him as un¬ 
worthy of his trust. 

The thought of judgment awaiting the responsible 
but unfaithful ones gave more or less direction and 
color to the mind of Jesus at this time. The tension 
between the Eoman rulers and the bigoted populace was 
growing very great. Pilate, the procurator, had more 
than once tested the determination of the Jews to de¬ 
fend their religious liberties. What particular mas¬ 
sacre was referred to by the one who spoke to Jesus 
about the slain Galileans we cannot determine. Jesus 
incidentally made use of the opportunity afforded Him 
to show the absurdity of the notion that a calamity like 
this indicated that those who suffered were great sin¬ 
ners. It rather indicated that the judgments of God 
were beginning to be experienced and that all men were 
bound to be warned. 

One saying of His we are deeply indebted to Luke 
for preserving with its mingling of sarcasm and dignity 
and tenderness. It reveals the real Jesus among His 
friends. "That fox” summed Herod up; Jesus despised 
his crafty and calculating self. 


132 


The Life of Christ 


In Perea as elsewhere the Sabbath question was 
raised. Invited after the synagogue service to the 
house of a ruling Pharisee, He was confronted with a 
man who had the dropsy. Jesus accepted the implied 
challenge, and with an allusion to their own free prac¬ 
tise winch closed their lips, He healed the sufferer. 
He then made candid criticism of two Pharisaic customs. 
They were sticklers for precedence and by no means 
slow to assert their claims. They were also fond of lav¬ 
ish entertainment which could be repaid in kind. This 
self-centredness Jesus never failed to rebuke. 

His closing words seemed to have roused some self- 
complacent guest to a platitude regarding their coming 
heavenly joy. In reply Jesus spoke the wonderful 
parable of the Great Supper, to which the friends of 
the host were invited. They were reluctant and sent 
plausible excuses until the indignant host opened wide 
his doors to all the city who were in need, welcoming 
them rather than his former guests to his banquet. By 
this He meant to say' that heaven was not a place of 
privilege, reserved for a condescending caste. This les¬ 
son well exemplifies the social sympathy and truly 
democratic spirit of Jesus. He was ever a critic of un¬ 
earned privilege, of unfelt devotion, or of unused ability. 


Chapter 3J/.. Parables of Grace and Warning 133 

Chapter 34.—Parables of Grace and Warning, 

Lu. chs. 15,16. 

The fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the Gospel of 
Luke exhibit in the highest degree the resourcefulness 
and skill of Jesus as a religious teacher. Never indeed 
did man speak like Him. His most earnest appeals 
were clothed in forms as attractive as they were- fitting. 
He often seemed to use parables in self-defense. When 
Pharisees or others found fault with Him an apt parable 
was His reply. 

The immortal parables of the fifteenth of Luke were 
a response to the criticism of the Pharisees and scribes 
because He not only preached to the sinful and the 
outcast but associated freely with them, even partaking 
of their food. Such a manifestation of friendship a 
Pharisee simply could not understand. The noblest of 
them dealt with these classes in a condescending way. 
But Jesus treated them as His friends, accepting their 
hospitality in His gracious, winning way. He thus 
broke down their reserve, won their confidence, and 
drew them in throngs around Him. 

Judaism’s boast and her greatest curse was her spirit 
of exclusiveness. Adopted as a measure which would 
promote religious purity and therefore holiness, the 
practice of this characteristic became considered as a 
token of superiority and a reason for despising other 
peoples. It did not stop at that point. Gradually the 
lines became drawm as rigidly within Judaism as 
without. The Pharisees classed “the people of tin 
land,” that is to say, the common working people, the 
brawn of the nation, with harlots and publicans, because 
they were quite unable to keep up any such artificial 
religious system as that in which the Pharisees took 
pride. A truly pious Pharisee occupied much of his 
time in determining and executing petty and usually 
senseless details. “The followers of Shammai at a 
feast began with the blessing for the day, then blessed 
the wine, then washed their hands and filled the cup, 


134 


The Life of Christ 


then laid their napkins on the table; the followers of 
Hillel began by blessing the wine, then repeated the 
blessing for the day, then filled the cup, afterward wash¬ 
ing their hands, and last of all placing their napkins on 
the cushion.” We can well imagine how weary of such 
puerilities the fresh and noble heart of Jesns would 
become, and how gladly by His example would He show 
that such standards of piety and estimation were not His 
own. He did not believe in segregation, as the para¬ 
bles of the tares and of the drag-net show. Good and 
wicked men He declared would have to go on living 
together until the.judgment day. He went further and 
claimed that it was wicked to disregard a sinner’s need. 
To be neighborly in the sense of the law was to act like 
the good Samaritan. To see a sinner without trying to 
help him was wrong in. practice and wrong in theory. 
He aimed to show the correctness of His point of view, 
and to justify it even to Pharisaic minds by illustrations 
which they could not gainsay. 

Although these parables are connected in Luke’s Gos¬ 
pel with the Perean ministry it is really to be noted that 
they are suitable in character for almost any occasion—* 
controversial, didactic, or evangelistic, to any other 
period when the question of dealing with “sinners” was 
prominent, and to any sort of audience—the disciples 
who needed broadening, the common people, sinners 
who needed encouragement, or the critically complacent 
Pharisees, who needed reproof. No one would ever 
question their authenticity or their value as portraitures 
of God. 

No one interpretation can exhaust the significance of 
these marvelous parables. They are capable of being 
taken from various view points. Some have termed the 
first three the “Parables of the Lost Things,” but Plum¬ 
mer’s title “Parables of the Love and Free Forgiveness 
of God” is better. The first two emphasize the value 
which God must set on every individual soul. Even a 
shepherd who owns a numerous flock throws his whole 
soul into the search for the one sheep which he may 


Chapter 3Jf. Parables of Grace and Warning 135 

have lost. It is not the size of the loss, but the safety 
of the sheep which stirs him to his patient, unwearying, 
laborious search. He does not resent by neglect the 
heedless straying of the sheep, but in his larger wisdom 
takes the proper means for its recovery. When the 
sheep is safe again his heart is full of joy. How true 
an analogy to the joy of God over a repentant sinner 1 
Similarly a woman, who carelessly loses a little coin, 
perhaps an ornament, will search through the house with 
a light, and when she has found it, she communicates 
her joy to the whole neighborhood. Even so God seeks 
to redeem each sinner and rejoices over every one 
snatched from an evil life. 

The third parable emphasizes the human side of the 
transformation in the heart of the sinner, the rise and 
growth of repentance, as well as the encouraging recep¬ 
tion which God gives. Grotius called it “clearly the 
finest of all Christ’s parables.” It is remarkable alike 
for its teaching and for its exquisite form. It portrays 
a son who dishonored his father and forgot him but who 
finally came to himself and sincerely repented. Re¬ 
turning home in humiliation his father recognizes him, 
forgives him all, gives him honorable standing, and 
celebrates his return. The elder brother of the prodigal 
bitterly questions this treatment, but his father tells 
him that it is not an exhibition of justice but a mani¬ 
festation of joy. 

The two parables of the sixteenth of Luke, while 
apparently unrelated to the preceding, are in matter of 
fact in natural connection. While the three parables of 
the lost combated the Pharisees’ spirit of exclusiveness, 
these two are directed at their self-indulgence. The 
first reveal its danger, the latter its folly. The un¬ 
righteous steward, as verse nine shows, was commended 
for his foresight and prudence in providing for the 
future by the means ready to his hand. Christ declared, 
that all those who live for religious ends should be 
relatively as sagacious in promoting them. The Phar¬ 
isees were, to say the least, unwary. 


136 


The Life of Christ 


The story of Dives and Lazarus exhibits the other 
side of the argument. It shows how disastrous may 
be the consequences of failing to make a wise use of 
earthly opportunity. The self-centered man is the loser 
in the long run. Dives was no criminal by intent; he 
lived hospitably in his way, hut he did no good with his 
wealth and therefore was justly punished. 

The principle is far-reaching. It applies to every 
kind of ability. The follower of Christ must use his 
gifts at all times for unselfish ends. He may be rich 
or poor, influential or humble, but up to the measure of 
his opportunity he is responsible. For him to do less 
is to be shortsighted as well as negligent. 


Chapter 35.—The Raising of Lazarus. 

Jo. 11:1-54. 

From beyond Jordan, where He was busied in the 
grateful work of healing and preaching, Jesus was 
again summoned, not long before the passover, to the 
vicinity of Jerusalem, this time by the agonized appeal 
of the two sisters of Bethany, with whom He maintained 
a friendship of more than common strength. They 
seemed to know where to find Him and sent promptly to 
let Him know that their brother Lazarus was danger¬ 
ously ill. It is curious that so little mention is made 
of the brother, either before or after this event, in the 
Gospel narrative. Doubtless he was younger than the 
sisters, too young to be a leader in the community or 
nation, or else a man of contemplative temperament, 
whose value to Jesus lay in his quickness to comprehend 
and sympathize with the Master’s plans rather than in 
his active support. At all events, the household 
turned instinctively to Jesus in that hour of supreme 
need. The sisters did not question His prompt re¬ 
sponse.. In the very intensity of their concern and 
absorption of their grief they did not consider how 



Chapter 35. The Raising of Lazarus 137 

dangerous it would be for Jesus to make His appear¬ 
ance with a mere handful of followers within easy 
reach of the authorities at Jerusalem. He was virtually 
an outlaw with a price upon His head. Considerations 
like these would not prevent Jesus from performing a 
sacred duty, but they explain the prudence which He 
displayed when His little group arrived at Bethany. 
They halted in the outskirts, until Martha could be 
advised of His arrival. 

The narrative in the fourth Gospel states that Jesus 
waited for two days before responding to the summons. 
His reason for this delay we may only conjecture. To 
ascribe it to a fear of personal consequences seems 
absurd. Ho more heroic or courageous soul ever lived 
than Jesus. He may have delayed because the assur¬ 
ance (vs. 41) that God had granted Him the power to 
raise up Lazarus was not promptly received. The delay 
may have been necessary in order that the miracle should 
be beyond any question. Its justification was the pro¬ 
found impression produced alike upon the disciples and 
upon the populace. 

The disciples wondered at His decision to go to 
Bethany. They supposed that He had regarded it as 
impracticable. Leaders of men, whose lives affect the 
fortunes of countless others, may not respond to the 
dictates of affection with entire freedom. Jesus 
replied in characteristic parable fashion that the ven¬ 
ture was not dangerous for one who could see his way 
ahead, and declared that the outcome would be of great 
significance. They did not quite put by their fears. 
The enterprise seemed clearly suicidal. Yet with a 
loving doggedness of courage native to him, the slow- 
witted Thomas voiced their common willingness to 
follow Jesus even unto death. That such men. when 
later actually face to face with the temple guards, fled 
for their lives, belied neither their sincerity nor their 
courage. 

Beaching Bethany they found the little village 
thronged with the friends of the family who had gath- 


138 


The Life of Christ 


ered, chiefly from Jerusalem, to show their respect for 
the deceased. Lazarus and his sisters were apparently 
well-to-do and well known. Oriental courtesy compels 
the attendance of kinsfolk and friends on occasions of 
family rejoicings or grief. Jesus therefore forebore, to 
go directly to the home, but sent a message to Martha 
which she promptly obeyed. Her word of greeting need 
not be understood as a reproach. Doubtless she sup¬ 
posed that Jesus had spared no pains to reach Bethany. 
Her dominant thought is one of truth. But her splen¬ 
did faith was made clearer by her replies to the stirring 

declarations of Jesus. 
That her brother would 
rise again in the general 
resurrection was an arti¬ 
cle of faith in which 
she had professed belief 
from her youth up. To 
this she makes formal 
assent. It did not carry 
much comfort. But when 
Jesus identified the hope 
of eternal life with faith 
in Himself, she accepted 
this larger truth, for she 
had full faith in Him. 
Her confession should 
be ranked with that of 
Peter at Caesarea Phil¬ 
ippi, as an evidence of genuine triumphant faith. 

When Mary met Him she fell at His feet. The 
matter-of-fact Martha would never express her emotion 
in that way. At the tomb she hesitates to permit the 
tomb to be opened for reasons which evince her practical 
good sense, even though it ran counter to the real faith 
which she also possessed. 

Jesus gave evidence of deep emotion as He approached 
the tomb. The observers attributed this to His affection 
for Lazarus. The word used to depict the emotion sig- 













Chapter 35. The Raising of Lazarus Id'9 

nifies a sort of indignation, usually aroused in Jesus by 
an exhibition of spiritual stolidity or barrenness. How¬ 
ever much He was affected by the curious bystanders, 
He did not hesitate acknowledging the gift of power 
from God when He commanded the dead to come forth 
from the tomb. 

Because the raising of Lazarus is the most notable 
miracle recorded in the Hew Testament, it has aroused 
unending discussion. Some question its authenticity 
because the Synoptists made no mention of it, and 
because it was not referred to at the trial. The subtle 
coincidences and connection with the other Gospel nar¬ 
ratives more than counter-balance these arguments. The 
raising of Lazarus, as Fairbairn has pointed out, makes 
the triumphal entrv a natural circumstance. 

The raising of Lazarus led to an increased activity on 
the part of the enemies of Jesus. Some, to be sure, 
believed on Him, but that counted for little. The 
Sanhedrin gathered and deliberately planned to put 
Jesus to death. They regarded Him as politically, no 
less than religiously, dangerous, and hesitated no longer. 

Probably no one who is unprejudiced would think of 
taking the story of Lazarus as other than a statement of 
fact. It does not resemble a parable or an allegory or 
a fictitious narrative of any sort. Its fitness for a place 
in the fourth Gospel is evident, for it exhibits gloriously 
the divine Christ, through whom the Father could per¬ 
fectly manifest His power. 

It is instructive to note that Jesus gained His power 
from God through prayer, a means which all may use 
with freedom. Such prayer can remove mountains and 
achieve seeming impossibilities. 

Jesus demonstrated in Himself the real significance 
of life and its eternal character. He made the earthly 
portion of it seem but preparatory and trivial in com¬ 
parison with that which would follow. To die was in 
His view merely to go to the Father and be with Him. 
To truly believe in God and to live the Godly life was 
to begin to inherit eternal life. 


140 The Life of Christ 

Chapter 36.—The Pinal Journeying toward Jerusalem. 

Mk. 10:2-16; Lu. 17:11—18:14. 

The unconcealed desire of the Sanhedrin to lay hold 
of Jesus, after His raising of Lazarus had become a 
matter of common report, made it necessary for Him to 
withdraw once more from the vicinity of Jerusalem. 
He made His way quietly to Ephraim, a place not many 
miles away from the sacred city, but quite secluded. 
Here a few weeks were passed in quiet preparation for 
the approaching trial. It was doubtless a time of retro¬ 
spect and forecast. Jesus knew that a crisis was im¬ 
pending. He was to enter Jerusalem for the last time. 
How to accomplish this with the maximum of direct 
appeal to the people for a thoughtful verdict upon His 
ideas and methods was His problem. Yet He was at 
peace because of His unshaken confidence in God and in 
the future. He thought His course through, and 
thenceforth exhibited no hesitancy in the development 
of His program. 

Apparently Jesus with His followers, not the Twelve 
alone but a considerable number, began a wan¬ 
dering which had as its goal the passover at 
J erusalem, but tended for the time being in 
various directions. To have gone directly to 
the city would have taken but a few hours. It is pos¬ 
sible that this wandering lasted as many weeks. The 
Gospels yield no note of time; they hint at an inflexible 
purpose, yet describe an unwearying interest in the cur¬ 
rent needs and perplexities of the people. 

To this short period Luke seems to assign a varied 
series of instructive episodes. They are at best but 
samples of the rich experiences of those crowded days, 
but serve to explain the wonderful moulding power of 
a daily contact with the Master. The very atmosphere 
was apostolic. Jesus kept emphasizing the blessedness 
of faith, however manifested, and its assurance. 

Once while making their wav along between Samaria 
and Galilee where the population was somewhat mixed 


Chapter 36. Journeying toward Jerusalem 141 

the party met a group of lepers, one of whom was a 
Samaritan. At their prayer He gave them a virtual 
promise of healing, if they would follow the prescribed 
rites of purification. While on the way to see the 
priests, they were cleansed. One alone of the number 
returned to express his thankfulness to Jesus, and he 
was this Samaritan. The nine may not have been 
wholly unmindful of their obligation; they may even 
have felt bound to obey with scrupulous exactness the 
directions of the One who had so graciously listened to 
their cry for aid. But after all the Samaritan in his 
noble self-forgetfulness and unreflecting gratitude acted 
rightly. He did what Jesus Himself would have been 
sure to do. He could not delay a moment in the expres¬ 
sion of his thankfulness to God and to His prophet, as 
no doubt He thought Jesus to be. Jesus gave him His 
direct approval. 

No less educative were the two imaginary incidents 
by which Jesus sought to convey His views on certain 
aspects of prayer. The first one is always puzzling to 
the reader because of the tendency to make every detail 
of a parable applicable or intentionally significant. An 
unprincipled judge influenced neither by religious nor 
social motives, was so hounded by a poor, unfriended 
widow with her pleas for justice that he yielded from 
sheer weariness to her appeal and befriended her. By 
her persistency she secured her boon. Back of that, 
however, was necessarily a confidence in the essential 
righteousness of her course, when once taken up by the 
judge, and in the effectiveness of the method when con¬ 
tinued long enough. These are the qualities enforced 
by the parable. If one of such a type as the judge can 
by such persistence be moved to do justice, how surely 
will the unremitting appeal of a believing heart, laying 
its cares and trials before a kind and loving heavenly 
Father receive attention and response. “But how few 
there are,” added the Master, "who have that sturdy, 
determined faith which upholds them in such a per¬ 
sistent approach to God.” 


142 


The Life of Christ 


The parable of the Pharisee and the publican illus¬ 
trates a different aspect of prayer and was probably 
uttered at some other occasion than the one which 
evoked the parable of the unrighteous judge. It advo¬ 
cated a spirit of trustful humility. The illustration was 
perfect. The Pharisee was professionally a man of 
prayer. He never failed to perform this duty, wher¬ 
ever he might he. Its regular execution was a kind of 
badge of respectability, in which he gloried. It was 
possible, although of course not necessary nor even cus¬ 
tomarily true, that a Pharisee could go through the 
forms of prayer without sharing in the least in its 
spirit. The Pharisee in the parable represented at once 
all phases of the wrong attitude in prayer. He was 
not standing in the presence of God but exhibiting him¬ 
self to men; he was not giving expression to his need, 
but declaring his merits; he was not humble, but rather 
demanding a recognition of his worth. His stay in the 
temple was to no effect. He had not prayed at all. 
The publican, of whom the haughty Pharisee would take 
no notice, was the one after all who made an acceptable 
prayer. He recognized the goodness and power of God, 
he expressed his sense of bitter need, he plead for for¬ 
giveness and God honored his prayer. Prayer is not a 
self-glorifying patronage of God, but a sincere plea for 
forgiveness and fellowship. 

It is natural that at some time the rulers should have 
tried to entrap Jesus into a declaration regarding 
divorce. There was a standing controversy over the 
interpretation and observance of Deut. 24:1, the one 
school allowing divorce for infidelity, the other and 
more prevalent school permitting it for almost any form 
of incompatibility, and at the caprice of the husband. 
As usual Jesus did not permit Himself to be identified 
with either party, but emphasized the great principle of 
the sacred and indissoluble union prefigured by the con¬ 
ditions of sex, sanctioned by the blessing of God and 
manifested in the growing oneness of sympathies, 
interests and purposes of a true married life. 


Chapter 37. Conditions of Loyal Service 143 

The ideal was too great even for the disciples. It 
has required the Christian centuries to give it full 
embodiment. Jesus recognized this but was content to 
delay, knowing that His ideal would be the standard of 
the days to come. Hot personal predilections but the 
interests of the kingdom of God would finally determine 
this and all related questions. 

How gladly from such experiences would Jesus have 
turned to greet the mothers with their little ones, 
brought to Him for His blessing. No wonder He 
resented the well-meant but officious interference of His 
followers. The children were His natural friends and 
the type of His followers. 


Chapter 37.— Conditions of Loyal Service. 

Mt. 19 :16—20:16; Mk. 10: 32-45. 

As the journey toward Jerusalem continued the 
relations between Jesus and His immediate followers 
were at once closer and more distant. He revealed His 
tender affection by many a thoughtful word or deed; at 
times, however. He seemed unapproachable. The 
realistic touch of Mk. 10: 32 suggests this attitude. As 
the company walked along Jesus was at the head, step 
and gesture betokening the pressure of His emotions. 
He knew well the crisis before Him. They could 
appreciate it in part, for they realized the danger which 
confronted them all, but doubtless they felt, after the 
raising of Lazarus, if not before, that His resourceful¬ 
ness was adequate to any emergency, and that they need 
not be weighed down with fear. His manner, neverthe¬ 
less, was out of the ordinary. It awakened the astonish¬ 
ment of the Twelve and a sense of awe in others. 

It was at this time of expectancy that the triple tra¬ 
dition of the Gospels locates one of the most suggestive 
incidents of the Master's career. There came to meet 
Him a young man of prominence who aroused the 
favorable attention of Jesus because of his attractive 



144 


The Life of Christ 


personality and his genuine enthusiasm for righteous¬ 
ness. He asked Jesus in courteous fashion what he 
should do, what ideal he should fulfil in order to make 
sure of eternal life. It was a natural query. The 
thinkers of that day were united in asserting that the 
will of God was to be fulfilled by performing a certain 
set of deeds. They differed in regard to those which 
were of chief and vital importance. Having seen re¬ 
peated evidences of the insight and honesty of Jesus, 
the young ruler desired His judgment regarding this 
disputed question. 

The response of Jesus had a two-fold application. 
The ruler had used one of those commonplace compli¬ 
mentary forms of address which are the small change 
of kindly natures, having little or no meaning. Jesus 
seemed to resent such a usage in His case, or else to 
disapprove the reference to Him as an authority. “Why 
ask me about the summum lonum? God is the only 

embodiment of the good. 
Study His revealed will.” 
When he asked which set 
of commandments should 
be kept, the young man 
was not unreasonable. 
To a well-trained Jew 
there were command¬ 
ments innumerable, some 
directly Scriptural, 
others Rabbinical, but 
all obligatory. Jesus re¬ 
ferred him to the ethical 
portions of the Deca¬ 
logue, but virtually said, 
“Live up to your ideal 

From Hoffman’s picture of ‘ 'Christ and the of UDriffhtneSS. ,J The 
Rich Young Ruler.” r 

young man had ever been 
an exemplary observer of the law. He could truthfully 
say without hesitation that from his earliest youth he 
had so lived. Jesus saw that he was a man of great 





Chapter 37. Conditions of Loyal Service 145 

capacity for discipleship, but as yet unacquainted with 
sacrifice. He wished for the higher life but not with 
any burning passion. He set him a keen test which the 
young man would not meet, a hard condition but a 
necessary one for His disciples. Those who did not 
value His companionship and His ideals of life far 
beyond the comforts or opportunities which wealth 
affords were no fit followers of His. 

Jesus regretted the defection of the young ruler, and 
remarked to His disciples that the possession of great 
wealth was a serious menace to the spiritual progress of 
men, almost insurmountable. To that age as to our 
own wealth seemed a most desirable possession. The 
Master’s declaration was depressing, so He hastened to 
qualify its force by reminding His hearers of the power 
and patience of God. 

It was not unnatural for the disciples who had truly 
risked their present and their future on their confidence 
in His leadership to betray a self-complacent curiosity 
regarding their share with Him in the glory of the 
future. Jesus answered them in kind. They would 
indeed receive satisfying returns of manifold value as 
regards relationship or possessions or places of influ¬ 
ence, yet with persecutions and for spiritual ends. The 
substance would be acceptable; the form surprising. 
Many a transformation would be seen, those who seemed 
to be foremost being the last in achievement. 

The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard who 
were hired at all hours, even at the eleventh, yet 
received, each one, the same sum for the work which he 
did, emphasizes the fact that square dealing is not 
always according to measure. What a man really 
deserves cannot be exactly determined by hours of 
service or by specific acts of loyalty. The principal 
factor is the wise and kindly judgment of the employer. 
“God,” as Bruce says, “does not love a legal spirit” nor 
proceed by contract in His apportionment of blessing. 
Let every man be sinsrle-minded in his devotion and 
leave the outcome to his heavenly Father. 


146 


The Life of Christ 


For the third time, according to the Gospel records 
—perhaps actually many times oftener—Jesus made 
mention of the coming crucifixion. This time He 
seemed to see clearly the character of the coming test, 
its severity and its limit. As before, they could not 
comprehend it. 

But all realized that some climax was at hand. All 
believed that it could be no other than a triumphant 
one. The moment was seized for a request which the 
others of the Twelve properly regarded as highly pre¬ 
sumptuous and unfair, but which was none the less an 
evidence of noble faith. The mother of the sons of 
Zebedee had probably been one of those who ministered 
so gladly to the needs of Jesus and His company. Her 
confidence in Him was absolute, despite the sorry con¬ 
ditions under which all were living. To her these pri¬ 
vations were only momentary. Her ambition for her 
sons was that of continuing loyalty to Him in His 
greatest estate, that they might still remain His confi¬ 
dential supporters. She probably thought of the oppor¬ 
tunity for usefulness and association rather than for 
glory. 

Jesus queried whether they would gladly share His 
experiences of good or evil, joy or woe. They assented, 
little realizing the full meaning of their pledge, yet 
awaiting a real ordeal. Jesus revealed the folly of the 
request and declared that no one could determine the 
rank of future disciples. Let him who sought for 
honor in the kingdom of God be ambitious to be 
serviceable. 

As a matter of fact the great leader of the Christian 
cause in the generation yet to be was still unknown to 
that company, and next to him stood Peter rather than 
a son of Zebedee. God does not permit men to block 
out the way of His providence. He alone can see the 
end from the beginning. To each faithful servant He 
will apportion that which is his due. 


Chapter 38. Jesus at Jericho and Bethany 147 

Chapter 38.—Jesus at Jericho and Bethany. 

Lu. 18 : 35—19: 28; Jo. 11: 55—12 :11. 

To the other two pairs of cities indissolubly connected 
with the active life of Jesus, the narrative we are to 
consider adds one more. We naturally unite in thought 
the birthplace, Bethlehem, with Nazareth, His boyhood 
home. Jerusalem, the capital city and goal of His 
activity, suggests Capernaum, the working center of 
His ministry in Palestine. Jericho and Bethany have 
an association purely personal and quite acciden¬ 
tal, yet they will ever be 
coupled in the mind of 
a reverent student of the 
life of Jesus because of 
the series of significant 
events with which they 
are connected. To the 
student, even to the trav¬ 
eler, of to-day, Jericho 
seems of slight impor¬ 
tance, a good place to 
hurry through, a resting- 
place only in case of ex¬ 
treme need. In the days 
of Jesus Jericho was 
a beautiful city, attrac¬ 
tive as a winter resort, well populated and busied with 
the traffic of a natural center of collection and distri¬ 
bution for a considerable desert trade. That a 
customs officer of high rank had his residence there 
indicated the importance of Jericho to the government. 

The exact order of the incidents which took place at 
Jericho cannot be determined from the data available 
in the Gospels. The independence of each narrative is 
quite striking. In relating the story of the healing of 
the / blindness at Jericho the first Gospel mentions two 
blind men, the others only one; the third Gospel repre- 







148 


The Life of Christ 


sents Jesus as performing the act of healing just as the 
company was entering Jericho, the others describe it as 
happening at the time of departure. Such differences 
are actually a testimony to the fidelity of the narrators 
to their sources of information. They tend to make us 
surer than ever of the reality of the two incidents 
described as occurring at Jericho. 

One of these was the healing of a blind man, 
Bartimasus by name, a beggar. He was not necessarily 
an outcast. From the narrative, he would rather seem 
to be a devout, intelligent and loyal son of Israel, and 
a man of some influence. To ask alms of the char¬ 
itable seemed in those days to involve no stigma, prob¬ 
ably because the giving of alms to the deserving or help¬ 
less poor was esteemed an act of real religious value. 
Bartimasus had heard much about Jesus of Nazareth, 
about His graciousness, His wonderful power over all 
kinds of disease. His message of the coming of the 
kingdom of God, and with all his heart he believed 
that this Jesus was indeed the Christ who was to be. He 
waited anxiously the moment when he might crave from 
Him a personal blessing and become His earnest fol¬ 
lower. Hearing that Jesus was about to pass, he could 
not contain himself for joy, and began to plead at the 
top of his voice for recognition. When could Jesus 
resist such a plea! He stopped and called for Barti- 
mseus. His was a plain case. It required little delib¬ 
eration. Jesus saw his eager faith, restored his sight, 
and added another to the train of those who would not 
let Him pass out of their company. 

But in the streets of Jericho an even greater wonder 
took place. A collector of taxes determined to live a 
life of active righteousness. As well, in the current 
opinion, might a leopard change his spots. To hold 
such a position, particularly to be a chief collector, 
required a combination of qualities. He would need to 
be intelligent, shrewd, a good manager and judge of 
men, unscrupulous, ready for the sake of making money 
to ignore social pleasures or national prejudices, a man 


Chapter 38. Jesus at Jericho and Bethany 149 

wlio refused to allow religion to control his movements, 
lie had heard of Jesus as one who did not despise his 
kind, and was eager to see Him. Being undersized, he 
ran ahead of the throng and climbed into the branches 
of a tree by the roadside, so as to have a full vision. 
He saw that which changed his whole life. In the calm 
gaze of Jesus there was sympathy, friendship, rebuke, 
pity, invitation, encouragement—enough to make Zac- 
chseus see his past 
life in all its naked 
selfishness, and to 
determine on the 
spot to begin anew 
with higher ideals. 

That his conver¬ 
sion was a genuine 
one he proved, af¬ 
ter Jesus had en¬ 
tered his house as 
an honored guest. 

Of his own accord 
he agreed to make ample restitution for his exactions, 
and henceforth to recognize the obligation of service and 
friendship. Such character miracles Jesus was working 
every day. 

The parable of the pounds illustrated in a new form 
the basis of divine judgment in the heavenly kingdom. 
The one who is faithful to his trust, however small it 
may be, is the one who will be given greater responsi¬ 
bilities and honors: the one who betrays a trust, or fails 
to do his best in promoting that which is given over to 
his care, will be deprived of a share in the development 
of the kingdom. To preserve a talent without putting 
it to its fullest use is criminal neglect. God endows us 
for usefulness. 

The objective point of the journey of Jesus was the 
home at Bethany where dwelt the three whom He 
dearly loved. Only through the fourth Gospel do we 
know this, although Matthew and Mark relate the 



The Traditional House ol Za^chseus. 






150 


The Life of Christ 


story of that evening. A feast was given in honor of 
Jesus, and perhaps to celebrate the joy of the family at 
the restoration of their brother from the dead. Each 
’sister makes acknowledgment in her own way of her 
debt of gratitude to the Master. Martha got up a 
supper and took charge of its serving. Mary seized the 
opportunity to make a fine exhibit of her uncalculating, 
unmeasured love. A costly box of precious ointment, 
purchased perhaps for the anointing of her brother’s 
body, she poured upon the head and feet of Jesus. It 
was the best token at hand of a whole-souled love. She 
sought to show Jesus the highest honor while He was 
yet with them. 

There were good men there who took a practical view 
of the act. They held it to be a sinful waste. But 
Jesus held that such devotion was beyond price and its 
manifestation worth the lavish gift. 

Thus Jesus encouraged the best in every one, however 
manifested, whether by faith in Him as Messiah, by the 
choice of righteousness, or by a passionate loyalty. 
Whatever gives expression to our noblest selves gives 
Him greatest honor and elicits His ready response. 


Chapter 39.—In Training for Apostleship. A Review. 

The life of Jesus from the time when He left Galilee 
to go northward until He reached Jerusalem for the 
final week of His ministry was dominated by one dis¬ 
tinctive purpose. At the very outset of the period He 
became assured of the settled attitude of His followers. 
They were wholly ready to range themselves deliberately 
with Him against the world in which they moved, which 
took its cue in matters religious from the scribes and 
Pharisees. This they were willing to do at any cost 
because they had become convinced by accumulated per¬ 
sonal proofs that their beloved Master was the Messiah 
whom prophets had foretold, for whom their nation had 



Chapter 39. In Training for Apostleship 151 

long been wistfully looking, whose message to Israel 
was that of God Himself. Such a conviction on their 
part gave to Jesus an assured basis for the furtherance 
of His plans for the kingdom. He had not alone a dis¬ 
tinct body of loyal supporters, but a group of disciples 
whose one aim was to grasp and execute His plans. 
Whatever He would formulate they would try to 
accomplish. He could therefore turn His energies 
toward their education as true disciples who could 
rightly interpret His spirit and their training for future 
apostolic responsibility. In this predominant purpose 
we find the key to the events and teachings of the last 
active year of Jesus’ ministry. 

During much of the time the company which sur¬ 
rounded Jesus was on the move, often by itself, occa¬ 
sionally, as in earlier days, among the cities and vil¬ 
lages of Judea and the region beyond Jordan. The 
first of these journeys, made desirable by the active 
enmity of the rulers, was through Tyre and Zidon 
northward, thence across the Lebanons and down 
through Decapolis, terminating at the Lake. An imme¬ 
diate collision with the Pharisees caused or hastened 
another withdrawal northward, this time merely to the 
region in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi. It was a 
journey forever made notable by the three important 
events which took place with little delay—the decisive 
questioning which gave occasion for Peter’s noble avowal 
of His Messiahship, the transfiguration in the presence 
of the three, and the initiation of a course of apostolic 
instruction. Our sources only hint at the actual teach¬ 
ing of the days of privacy that followed as the company 
strolled leisurely and unobtrusively southward. The 
true meaning of discipleship was apparently the theme 
of those blessed days of fellowship, days which really 
began to create the apostles that were to be. Palestine, 
small as it is, is a land where groups of people may 
readily avoid publicity. The circle of disciples grad¬ 
ually worked their way toward Jerusalem but without 
pubiic notice. Jesus made His appearance at the feast 


152 


The Life of Christ 


of tabernacles, where His noble discourses concerning 
spiritual refreshing and illumination and freedom 
thrilled the hearts of many. His bold declarations re¬ 
garding Himself excited the rulers to sudden rage, but 
He departed unharmed. 

It was clear to Him then that His ministry could but 
result in a martyrdom. The remaining few months 
were given up to a renewal of His active ministry of 
healing and teaching, mainly in the region beyond 
Jordan, where full freedom of movement was still 
afforded and the Pharisees were less hostile. Even this 
ministry was one which was primarily important to the 
disciple-group, a continuous object-lesson in true min¬ 
istration. Its objects were forwarded by the sending 
ahead of the seventy messengers to the villages about to 
be visited. During the period Jesus went twice to 
Jerusalem, once to attend the feast of dedication, when 
the man born blind was healed and the wonderful 
allegories of the Shepherd and the Door expressed, as 
well as the infuriating declaration of a unique relation¬ 
ship with God. Thenceforth the rulers were ready to put 
Him to death. He took pains to emphasize in conver¬ 
sation the sharp distinction between Pharisaic religion 
and His own, and to declare by parable and precept the 
true attitude of God toward a sinful world. The death 
of Lazarus and his raising from the dead brought Jesus 
from His retirement, but only intensified the hostility 
of the rulers, so that He again withdrew until the pass- 
over. When this was at hand His company began a 
gradual movement toward Jerusalem which gave occa¬ 
sion for much notable teaching and many helpful inci¬ 
dents. With the passage through Jericho and the arrival 
at Bethany the period concludes. 

Its significance is manifest in varied ways. The 
Jesus of this year, even more than before, was a self- 
contained, confident, bold interpreter of the mind of 
God, exhibiting no less of the gentleness and patience 
and tenderness so natural to Him, but in more striking 
fashion, the steadfastness, energy and vigor which were 


Chapter 39. In Training for Apostleship 153 

equally His characteristics. He would face His foes 
with calmness when danger meant opportunity; He 
ever refused to act impulsively. 

From the Gospels of Matthew and Mark we gain the 
impression that the year was a period of waiting for 
the crisis which Jesus calmly foresaw. A vision was 
ever open to His great soul. A sense of duty drove Him 
on, the obligation of saying and doing that which would 
prepare His followers and His nation for what was to 
come. It was therefore also a period of active, zealous, 
helpful companionship and ministry. To acquaint His 
intimates with His standards of discipleship, to set their 
gaze far ahead unto the active years that were to come, 
to give them a practical knowledge of evangelistic meth¬ 
ods and to bring home to the people at large a brighter 
vision of the God of love, a sense of the judgment near 
at hand and of the need of repentance—these were the 
ends He seemed to have immediately in view. 

With what graciousness and wisdom He did this the 
Gospels of Luke and John enable us to know. Each 
emphasizes in its peculiar way the important teachings 
of the period, the one regarding God and His service, 
the other concerning Himself and His work. Without 
their testimony the inner life of Jesus would be a 
mystery. 

Jesus was sustained during these months by the joyful 
certainty that He could rely upon a body of disciples 
full of promise though few in number. The attitude of 
the nation became of less consequence. He met all sorts 
of opposition, grading from murderous hatred down to 
lofty patronage, but had evidence also of responsive 
hearts among all classes, from wealthy Pharisees to 
loving mothers with their little children. This was 
enough to convince Him of the ultimate triumph of His 
Gospel. 

His disciples could not quite rid themselves of their 
hopes of a brilliant outcome of such power and wisdom 
as He unquestionably possessed. But He drilled into 
them the fundamentals of apostleship; the fatherhood of 


154 


The Life of Christ 


God, the equality in His sight of man, the nature of sin 
and its consequences, the essentials of discipleship, the 
value of steadfastness and assurance. 

Then, as to-day, Jesus sought to gain His ends by 
raising up disciples after His own pattern. The 
scribes had a tradition that if one Jew could perfectly 
keep the whole law for even a day the kingdom of God 
would come. With eleven reliable disciples Jesus was 
ready to face the world. Were those who call them¬ 
selves His to-day half so faithful, His work would 
quickly be accomplished. 


Chapter 40.—Jesus Claiming Messiahship. 

Mt. 21: 1-19. 

At last Jesus was ready to enter Jerusalem. He had 
been there often before, but never with such an inflexi¬ 
ble purpose. Heretofore when His ministrations or 
teachings had provoked bitter opposition, Jesus had 
quietly withdrawn to await a time that should be more 
opportune. This time He did not expect to depart. He 
knew that the close of His active ministry was at hand. 
The passover feast would mark the end. But there 
was yet a week of largest opportunity, when throngs 
would once more hear His words and come under the 
spell of His gracious presence. 

To make the utmost of the few remaining days, to 
declare Himself unmistakably as the Messiah, to draw 
a sharp line between His working ideals and those of 
the official class, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes, 
to impress the people in words of solemn warning with 
the urgency of repentance and reform, and to prepare 
His own disciples by tender acts of fellowship and by 
winged words of counsel for the days of responsibility 
before them—these were some of the definite aims which 
He must have had in mind. 

Jesus was not a fugitive brought to bay, desperately 



Chapter J/.0. Jesus Claiming Messiahship 155 

employing any expedient for prolonging the day of 
freedom; He was rather the deliberately patriotic son 
of Israel facing the sacrifice which was essential to the 
redemption of His people and of humanity. History 
has never shown a more splendid example of deliberate 
devotion, foreseeing the inevitable and calmly facing it. 

The importance of these closing days cannot readily 
be overestimated. This is attested, in part, by the 
prominence accorded by each Gospel writer to the inci¬ 
dents of the week. Nearly one-third of the Gospel 
according to Matthew, fully a third of Mark, about a 
quarter of the Gospel of Luke and almost one-half of 
the fourth Gospel are devoted to that which happened 
after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Each aims 
to make a real impression. No adequate conception of 
the period is obtainable from any one writer, however, 
so many-sided was the activity of Jesus. But all agree 
in representing Jesus as assuming a masterfulness, an 
aggressiveness, a self-assertion rarely characterizing His 
personality. 

Bethany, where Jesus and His disciples had been 
lodging, was not far from Jerusalem, less than an hour’s 
journey on foot. On the first day of the week He set 
out for the holy city. The rumor quickly spread that 
He was approaching and a great multitude took palm 
branches and went forth to meet Him. According to 
the fourth Gospel, this throng was composed chiefly of 
pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for passover week. 
They were eager to see and welcome Him, so as to give 
Him confidence to assume His Messianic dignity and 
duty. They fully believed that the hour had come 
(Jo. 12:13) for His open avowal of His mission. 

Jesus too, acted as one who had made up His mind to 
a, course of procedure. His approach was deliberate. 
When near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His 
disciples to a place near at hand to borrow an ass’s colt 
on which He might ride into the city. The animal was 
an important and distinctive accessory. Jesus rode, not 
to spare Himself the strain of the toilsome ascent, but 


156 


The Life of Christ 


that all who witnessed His entry might be reminded of 
the well-known and oft-repeated prediction of the 
prophet Zechariah about the coming of the Messianic 
King. This was one of the first deliberate actions 
implying a decision to assume Messianic dignity, which 
the disciples had witnessed. No wonder it aroused 
their sudden enthusiasm. The fourth Gospel declares 
that they did not fully understand the significance of 
the act until much later. They were acting from) an 
impulse, hut one that was proper, natural and irresist¬ 
ible. Divesting themselves of their mantles, they 
hastened to spread them on the back of the colt that He 
might sit thereon. The welcoming multitude sur¬ 
rounded Him and all proceeded toward Jerusalem. 
Some spread their outer garments in the roadway; 
others, seeing the branches which a part of the throng 
was using, hastened to cut other branches from the 
trees and wave them. 

It was a well-meant but embarrassing homage. The 
idea of the multitude, even of the disciples, and that of 
Jesus were quite divergent. While they anticipated His 
immediate assumption of national leadership, He just 
as distinctly offered Himself as the meek and unam¬ 
bitious Prince of Peace. He well knew how transitory 
this popular homage was and how little He could rely 
upon it. Nevertheless, He accepted it, notwithstanding 
the protests of some of the onlooking Pharisees, because 
it served “to emphasize the claim which He now wished 
without reserve or ambiguity to make in Jerusalem.” 

As the jubilant procession swept along, the active 
mind of Jesus viewed in anticipation the lamentable 
outcome of it all and as He came in full view of the 
beautiful city of His fathers, the city of sacred 
memories, and persistent hopes, the conviction of its 
present uselessness for religious advance, and of its 
festering corruption but slightly veiled by its outward 
glory, brought tears of love and sympathy and regret to 
His eyes. Jerusalem was dear to every son of Israel, 
the dearest spot on earth, but to Jesus, who had such a 


Chapter 1^0. Jesus Claiming Messiahship 157 

marvelous insight into the significance of institutions 
and ideas, its impending and richly-deserved fate was 
nothing less than a tragedy. 

The city was greatly stirred by the public entry of 
Jesus, yet no one interfered, the rulers because they 



riodern Jerusalem, from the riount of Olives. 


feared the multitude, the Bomans because they 
regarded it as a passing incident of the feast. 

The details of the remainder of this eventful day are 
somewhat obscure. According to Mark, Jesus simply 
went to the temple, looked about Him sadly and 
returned for the night to Bethany. Matthew and Luke 
are less explicit, but permit the assignment of the 
cleansing to the first or second day of passion week. 

There will always be a chance for an honest difference 
of opinion regarding the cleansing of the temple. As 
a significant declaration of what was befitting the 
house of God, its most fitting occasion was at the outset 
of the active ministry, where John records it. Its repe¬ 
tition at this time would seem justified as a symbolic 
reassertion of the standards of religion for which Jesus 
had ever stood. 

There was a noble, unshrinking, courageous assertion 
of Himself this day, on the part of Jesus which the 
Christian may well ponder and imitate. It was an 
assertion that meant repression, a triumph which 
involved sacrifice, a glory that could only be fulfilled 
through suffering and shame. 







158 


The Life of Christ 

Chapter 41.— Jesus’ flessiahship Rejected. 

Mt. 21: 23—22:14; Mk. 11: 12-14, 20-25. 

How much Jesus actually did at Jerusalem during 
the day following the triumphal entry can only be 
conjectured. Only the second cleansing of the temple 
could be allotted to it. The narrative of Luke implies 
that each day (19:47) found Him teaching the 
thronging multitudes, while Matthew’s Gospel (21:14) 
hints at His old-time activity in healing. Many things 
must really have happened of which no direct record has 
been preserved. 

The writers of the Synoptic Gospels emphasize by 
what they include and ignore the symbolical significance 
of the acts of Jesus at this time. The striking assump¬ 
tions of the manner of His entrance into the sacred city 
were only enforced by the incidents of the cursing of 
the fig-tree and the cleansing of the temple. Each in 
turn was the dramatic assertion of kingly dominance. 

The incident of the fig-tree, treated as a petulant act 
of disappointment, seems incredible and wholly opposed 
to the habitual action or point of view of Jesus. He 
could never have vented upon a tree the spleen which 
He was never known to manifest upon an erring man. 
It would seem certain that Jesus had a purpose in His 
pronunciamento. His act was an unspoken allegory; 
His desire to set the disciples to thinking about His 
meaning. As a figure it seemed to illustrate the judg¬ 
ment awaiting the Jewish nation and to suggest its 
justification. But the personal application made by 
Jesus was quite distinct. The confidence with which 
He had decreed its withering away was a plea for stead¬ 
fastness and sturdiness of faith, mountain-moving in 
character. 

It is evident that at this time Jesus was in practical 
command of the situation at Jerusalem. Had He 
made a bold, unreserved proclamation of kingly leader¬ 
ship and appealed to the populace to rally around Him, 
a host would have responded without delay to the call. 


Chapter 1+1. Jesus* Messiahship Rejected 159 

Nor would such a movement have been destitute of a 
chance of success. What actually happened in the year 
66 might well have happened now. The garrison was 
not large and the people were deeply exasperated at the 
despotic ways of Pilate. 

But the principles and practises of Jesus were so 
offensive to the religious leaders that they regarded 
Him as worse for them than Roman domination. They 
did not care for His leadership and determined to 



flosque of Omar. From a photograph. 

This beautiful mosque occupies the site of the temple proper as it was built by 
Solomon and as it stood in the time of Christ. It stands on an elevated platform, 
reached by flights of steps surmounted by porches with pointed arches. Two of 
these porches are seen in the picture. 

prevent it. The history of the next two days became a 
record of continuous attempts in one form or another to 
overawe or compromise or expose Him to public ridicule 
and thus to alienate His following. 

The first move was made while He was engaged in 
teaching. The chief priests and elders, members of the 
authoritative Sanhedrin, challenged His authority for 
doing such unconventional deeds, some of which called 
sharply in question their own methods and standards. 
They did not deny His influence; it was incontroverti¬ 
ble. Jesus made a remarkable reply, at once a return 
for their challenge and a real reply. He did not merely 
put His critics on the defensive, but suggested the 
answer that real spirituality accredits itself. A prophet 
needs no diploma. Had they been manful enough to 
meet Him squarely He might have explained Himsplf. 
realizing that His thoughts were beyond the compre- 



160 


The Life of Christ 


hension of such legally-petrified intellects, but their 
wilful opportunism made Him disregard them altogether. 
Perplexities He. would unravel; stupidity He could 
condone; but wilfulness He exposed without mercy. 
Having silenced His critics He proceeded to declare 
that even publicans and harlots would get into the 
kingdom before them, for people of that class had 
recognized that John had a heavenly message and had 
listened to it and repented. The professed leaders of 
Judaism were always declaring loudly their obedience 
to God, but they never really obeyed Hia call; the 
sinners refused at first to hearken but finally were 
loyal disciples. 

In three striking parables Jesus went on to declare 
the ominous significance of the spiritual blindness of 
these leaders. Like the son who was full of promises, 
but did no work, they were inducing the nation, with 
all its enthusiasm, to set itself against the invitation 
of Jesus. 

By this exposure of their insincerity, Jesus knew that 
He had given mortal offence to the leaders. He then 
uttered a parable which virtually exhibited them as 
defying even divine authority. A householder took 
great pains to make ready a vineyard for cultivation, 
sparing nothing which might ensure its fruitfulness. 
After a reasonable interval, during which the vineyard 
is maturing its fruit, he sends to the leaseholders for 
his share of the produce. But his messengers, one 
after another, are beaten and sent back empty-handed. 
Finally the owner sends his son, thinking that the vine¬ 
dressers cannot fail to show him respect. But they 
argue that by his death the vineyard will become their 
possession and so put him to death. But the owner 
comes, punishes them and lets the vineyard to others. 

The parable cut to the quick. Its meaning was 
broadly evident. Israel’s leaders were as selfish, as 
heartless, as brutal as the tenants, equally oblivious of 
God’s just demands, equally ready to kill His last and 
nearest representative. Their persistence in their 


Chapter J$. Christ and the Pharisees 161 


malevolent purpose would be the sign that their control 
of Israel would be brought to a sudden end. They 
realize that Jesus is aware of their attitude toward Him 
and retire with hearts fierce with hatred. 

The third parable of the series is regarded by some as 
not originally spoken by Jesus at this time; yet it can¬ 
not be regarded as inappropriate, even in the detail of 
the wedding-garment. It is a parable of grace involv¬ 
ing judgment. God is very patient and generous. He 
invites every one and gives him repeated opportunity. 
But persistent indifference to His call or a lack of 
personal holiness or reverence will be fatal. Such can¬ 
not rightfully expect to share in His glory. 

The outstanding characteristic of Jesus at this time 
was His self-control. With a nation within His grasp, 
He remained perfectly loyal to His principles. It was 
the victory of the third temptation once more won. 
He would rather fail to carry leaders and nation with 
Him than be false to the highest possible ideals. 


Chapter 42.—Christ’s Last Conflict with the Pharisees. 

Mt. 22 :15—23: 39. 

After the bold words of Jesus to the Pharisees and 
others in the presence of the multitude and their retire¬ 
ment in confusion, there could be no further question 
of the relationship between Him and them. They hated 
Him with a bitterness which was all the more intense 
because they not only disapproved His ideas, but real¬ 
ized His mercilessly keen insight into their selfishness 
and irreligion. It caused His foes to drop their cus¬ 
tomary animosity for one another in the common anxie¬ 
ty to make way with Him. When they departed in con¬ 
fusion, they had broken with J esus forever. 

Naturally any subsequent contact was that of opposi¬ 
tion. At all costs He must be put out of the way. The 
leaders knew their Jerusalem and the fickleness of the 
applauding throng. Let Jesus take but one false step 



162 


The Life of Christ 


and He would really endanger His influence. Let Him 
declare Himself in opposition to popular sentiment on 
some matter of fanatical significance and His leadership 
would instantly be at an end. They laid for Him in 
conference some very clever traps, which only His 
straightforwardness and perfect comprehension of their 
attitude enabled Him to avoid. But to turn the tables 
and involve them to their undoing was relatively easy 
for Him. His mastery of the situation was never ques¬ 
tionable. 

Their first scheme was astute and plausible. The 
leaders did not themselves appear as principals, but 
sent younger men to entrap Him into a declaration on 
the subject of the payment of tribute to Rome. These 
inquirers sought to ingratiate themselves by flattery. It 
shows that they had no real knowledge of Jesus, if they 
thought that their true spirit was hidden from Him. He 
soon disillusioned them, declaring them to be sharers 
in a wicked conspiracy. 

To the question He could not be silent, yet it was a 
dangerous one to answer. A reply in the affirmative 
would infuriate the people who hated the poll-tax for 
both political and religious reasons; a reply in the nega¬ 
tive would have been the basis of a political charge be¬ 
fore the suspicious procurator. 

Most students regard the answer of Jesus as eminent¬ 
ly shrewd and satisfying, recognizing a twofold sphere 
of authority without essential conflict, admitting a 
proper response to the claims of an earthly sovereign 
and declaring the necessity of serving God as well. 
Some think, however, that His failure to satisfy the de¬ 
mands of the fierce anti-Roman zealots in Jerusalem on 
this question may have intensified, if not occasioned, 
their savage call for Bar abbas, instead of Jesus at His 
trial. But it fairly answered His opponents, who paid 
Him the tribute of an unwilling admiration as they de¬ 
parted. 

The Sadducees fared no better. They too tried to put 
Jesus in a ridiculous light and framed for Him a ques- 


Chapter J^2. Christ and the Pharisees 163 


tion to which He could scarcely give attention without 
detriment. If seven brothers in succession married 
the same woman, whose wife would she be after the res¬ 
urrection. The reply of Jesus was remarkable alike for 
its simplicity and grandeur. He wondered that they 
who presumed to be men of insight should ask such a 
question. It proved that they understood neither the 
nature of things Divine nor the testimony of Scripture. 
God transforms His own into spiritual beings for whom 
the relationships of the flesh become the broader and 
finer relationship of the spirit. Their heaven was sim¬ 
ply a continuing earth; God’s heaven was a new life in¬ 
deed. Alluding then to their boasted skepticism regard¬ 
ing the future life, Jesus shows that it is presupposed 
by the Scripture on which the Sadducean sect particu¬ 
larly relied, the Pentateuch. The words of comfort 
from the section known as “The Bush,” imply clearly 
that God continued to be in active relationship with 
those who had passed away long before. A verbal argu¬ 
ment like this was particularly effective before an audi¬ 
ence like His, accustomed to keen, strict, deductive in¬ 
terpretation from the very wording of Scripture. Ho 
wonder that a scribe blurted out a commendatory word. 

On the next incident the Gospels of Matthew and 
Mark give a varying impression. According to the for¬ 
mer, the lawyer, like those who had preceded him, was 
anxious to entrap Jesus into saying something to His 
own hurt; Mark implies that the questioner was sincere 
and thoughtful. It was a legitimate question. Every 
Jew had to establish a working classification of legal re¬ 
quirements according to their importance, so that in 
case of a conflict, the more important might be obeyed. 
In general the order of the Decalogue was accepted as 
the standard. With His first statement all Judaism 
practically agreed. The novel feature in His reply lay 
in the equality given to love for one’s neighbor, and, by 
implication, the minor value assigned to details of wor¬ 
ship, ceremonial purity, fasting, etc. His reply thus 
finely summarized His whole work and teaching. The 


164 


The Life of Christ 


young man showed by his answer a quick comprehension 
of Jesus and sympathy with Him. He was truly close 
to an acceptance of His leadership. One wonders 
whether he too “went away sorrowful.” 

Jesus then asked the Pharisees a question, not proba¬ 
bly in order to puzzle or silence His critics, but rather 
to give them a more reasonable and helpful idea of the 
Messiah. They were accustomed (Jo. 7 :41, 42) to ob¬ 
ject to His Messiahship on the ground that He was not 
of Davidic descent. By a question He brings out the 
current view, then seeks to show that the Scriptures 
really emphasize a broader relationship, that of sonship, 
a relation which ignores the physical but urges a spirit¬ 
ual kinship. 

So far above His opponents did these replies show 
Him to be that thereafter no one dared to catechize 
Jesus. 

But He was not done with them. Before departing 
Jesus made use of His opportunity to declare unmis¬ 
takably the difference between His type of righteous¬ 
ness and that of the Jewish leaders. Mark’s report 
seems meagre, Luke scatters the material, Matthew col¬ 
lects at this point His whole body of similar declara¬ 
tions. That He made a “weighty, deliberate, full, final 
testimony” seems wholly probable. The exact portion 
of it spoken at this time need not be distinguished. It 
was a scathing arraignment of the leaders for their cal¬ 
culating hypocrisy, their real ungodliness, their decep¬ 
tion of the people, their burdensome ceremonialism, 
their self-indulgence, their hostility to truth and hatred 
of light, their utter incompetence to recognize minis¬ 
tries or messengers or anything else Divine. A terrible 
rebuke, but justly deserved by the great mass of self- 
styled rulers of Judaism. 

The impression made upon all minds by the study of 
this day in the life of Jesus is that of His greatness and 
His consistency in act and utterance. He consistently 
concluded an active career, reaffirming the great truths 
and principles with which He began. 


Chapter J>3. Christ’s Public Ministry Closed 165 

Chapter 43.—The Close of Christ’s Public Hinistry. 

Mk. 12 : 41-44; Jo. 12 : 20-50. 

After declaring with emphatic deliberation the im¬ 
pressive series of woes upon the religious leaders of Ju¬ 
daism, Jesus did not leave the temple, but seating Him¬ 
self in the court of the women, He watched those who 
were bringing their gifts to the treasury. The offerings 
were dropped through funnel-shaped openings in the 
wall into boxes fastened to the wall on the inside. It 
is not probable that Jesus was able to see clearly the 
exact character of each offering, yet its general amount 
He could infer from the circumstances. The rich men 
took good care to give an opportunity for a bystander to 
observe; it was the poor widow who was most likely to 
make her gift modestly. Hers was a little gift, yet 
greater than any other, for it was all that she had and 
on the same scale theirs would have been vastly larger 
in amount. It was greater, too, because she gave 
wholly for love and they from a sense of duty or by 
reason of the pressure of habit or the desire of repute. 
It was a noble trait in Jesus that He was so keen to see 
the finer side of human character and to commend its 
significance. This woman stood for genuine, unmeas¬ 
ured, unselfish faith. 

Jesus appeared in an attractive light when sought by 
the Greeks who were in Jerusalem. These men were 
probably proselytes from the great commercial centres, 
men of intelligence and character who had come into 
contact with the best types of Judaism and with its 
lofty ideals and had become worshipers. They were 
tolerated and even encouraged by the strict Jews, al¬ 
though not recognized as members of that household of 
faith unless they were circumcised. Such men would 
be naturally attracted by what they heard on every hand 
about Jesus, and desirous of seeing Him. 

For some reason Philip hesitated to introduce them 
to Jesus. He confided in Andrew and the two together 
made the request that He would meet the Greeks. The 


166 


The Life of Christ 


writer of the fourth Gospel introduced the anecdote for 
the sake of its light upon the inner life of Jesus, hence 
we have no report of the interview, but only of the effect 
of their request upon Jesus. He gave His disciples a 
glimpse of His real self. It was as if He had a sudden 
vision of the ingathering that would surely come in the 
future and of the supreme sacrifice which would hasten 
its appearance. It was a vision of glory, but of a glory 
won in the spirit of service and by the heroism of unself¬ 
ishness. Such a service He was ever craving for His 
disciples and in it He would set them a leadership and 
offer them the winning of a noble pre-eminence. 

The turns of thought attributed to Jesus are not 
wholly clear. John 12: 27 can be interpreted as an 
appeal for deliverance or, perhaps more naturally, as a 
firm declaration of deliberate consecration. J esus 
realized at that moment in a supreme degree the signifi¬ 
cance of His approaching death. He saw it as a vision 
of a great uprising of men and women of patience, cour¬ 
age, faithfulness and zeal, of sacrificial temper and of 
godly lives. It nerved Him for the struggle and 
enabled Him to confront it with decision. Assured of 
divine approval He expressed the other aspect of the 
significance of His death, its victory over the power of 
evil which so often seems to hold the world in control. 
Such power is destined to be broken. The cross, from 
being an emblem of shame and humiliation, will become 
a symbol of the victory of righteousness. 

In these words are expressed the heart of the Gospel 
and the hope of Christianity. The crucified Christ has 
been and still is the greatest power in history. His 
influence is demonstrably the most pervasive of any per¬ 
sonality that ever lived, profoundly modifying the trend 
of national instincts or ambitions, kindling noble 
emotions in the most unpromising of hearts, transform¬ 
ing the worst of lives, utilizing to their fullest capacity 
the promising traits of men, inspiring everywhere the 
heroic desire for unselfish discipleship. 

What a pity, as the fourth Gospel declares, that His 


Chapter 1+3. Christ's Public Ministry Closed 167 

generation was blinded to this greatest value of the 
personality of Jesus. It persisted in misunderstanding 
and underestimating Him. Its leaders were like men 
groping about in a darkness only aggravated by tiny rays 
of light, when a few steps away, free to their access, was 
a glorious and attractive world bathed in brilliant sun¬ 
shine. They knew just enough about Jesus to cause 
them to reject the opportunity to learn more. This 
failure was more than an accident or a mistake; it was 
a tragedy. 

The fourth Gospel fitly closes the story of the period 
of the repeated self-revelation on the part of Jesus to 
His people with a summary of the reasons for its failure 
to accomplish His purpose. The prophets, it remarks, 
had foretold just such an outcome. Jesus was not 
accepted, partly because of the very simplicity and 
straightforwardness with which He preached, partly 
because, as men are constituted, it is inevitable that 
many close their ears and harden their hearts to the 
truth, partly because many will not endure the cost of 
discipleship. There are many Pharisees who agree in 
opinion with better men, but will not risk an expulsion 
from the comfortable synagogue for the sake of main¬ 
taining their convictions. Of these reasons the first 
two seem the more historically true. The Jews as a 
race were quite ready for sacrifice, but their preposses¬ 
sions and inveterate prejudices rendered them unwilling 
to be hospitable to truth in fresh forms. They would 
have been quickly and devotedly loyal to a Christ of their 
imaginations; they despised and rejected the actual 
Christ. 

The pathos of the outcome is in the fact that those 
who rejected Jesus condemned themselves to sit in dark¬ 
ness. They drew away from the normal and ready 
source of spiritual light. Jesus spent no time in en¬ 
forcing judgments; He gave Himself to the positive 
work of the redemption of men. He put in their way 
every possible reason for repentance and reform. His 
appeals were clear and constant and sincere. Their 


168 The Life of Christ 

real rejection would be the gravest charge to he laid 
against men. 

That which gave significance to the life of Jesus 
makes the real importance of the life of every follower of 
His. Ho life can be wasted by being granted to service; 
a surrender is an assurance of its glorious completion. 
The sacrificial spirit in the disciple no less than the 
Master is the one temper which ensures a real success. 


Chapter 44.—Christ’s Prophetic Discourse on ilount 
Olivet. 

Mt. chs. 24, 25; 26:1-5, 14-16. 

The day of public testimony drew near its close. The 
Master had spoken His last word to the multitude and 
to His opponents, but He had yet much upon His heart. 
His thought was for His disciples whose days of teaching 
were drawing near. Going out of the temple with His 



View on the Hount of Olives. 

disciples about Him, He left the city and went directly 
to His favorite refuge for resting and quiet conversation, 
the Mount of Olives, perhaps the most truly sacred spot 
to-day for those who seek to reproduce in their own ex¬ 
perience the impressions of the active life of Jesus. 

From that hillside the remark of His disciples was 
inevitable. His words of impending judgment were 




Chapter - 4 - 4 * Christ on Mount Olivet 169 


ringing in their ears. As they pondered them, their 
perplexity increased. The stately, massive temple was at 
once a symbol and a pledge to the Jews of that day of 
the permanence of Judaism. Herod had erected upon 
the foundations which he had inherited from ancient 
days a structure which became a wonder of the world, 
impressive, splendid* exquisite. It ranked with the 
masterpieces of earlier days. It seemed so solidly built 
that neither earthquakes nor sieges could endanger it. 
Even to-day, when one observes from that hillside a 
decadent city and neglected suburbs, the scene from the 
Mount of Olives is impressive. In the days of Pilate 
and Caiaphas it was imposing. The soul of every loyal 
Jew thrilled with enthusiasm as he viewed the splendid 
city, more than satisfying his fondest dreams, the mag¬ 
nificent temple so superb as to promise to be unrivalled 
upon its completion, rounding out a history which fos¬ 
tered his pride and fed his loyalty. The mere view of 
these things contributed to the maintenance of that 
expectancy which ever kept his, blood pulsating at fever 
heat. It was indeed ‘^beautiful for situation, the joy 
of the whole earth.” Could such a structure, thought 
they, with its sacred associations, its national yet perma¬ 
nent values, its acquired prestige, its obvious strength, 
be in danger of destruction ? Could God permit such a 
frustration of His plans? The reply of Jesus was 
tragic in its directness. “There shall not be left here 
one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” 

Under the circumstances, the Twelve could not but 
wonder what He meant and when it would all take 
place. The four who were in closest relation with Him 
ventured to question Him on the subject. They had 
heard His predictions; they knew the feeling of the 
people, they had full confidence in Him, but needed His 
explanation. 

His discourse furnishes one of the perpetual prob¬ 
lems which confront the student of the life of Christ. 
The fullest report is given in the first Gospel, possibly 
because, after the custom of its writer, already noted, all 


170 


The Life of Christ 


the teachings of Jesus bearing on this theme of the 
anticipated future were given expression at this point 
in His narrative. Mark’s report includes, however, all 
of the ideas of that of Matthew. The disciples were 
warned by Jesus to expect a period abounding with 
difficulties and trials during which they were to be 
preaching the Gospel far and wide. The utmost reso¬ 
lution and patience would be incumbent upon them dur¬ 
ing these days of pioneering. Their experience would 
be a continuous struggle. Disappointment and disillu¬ 
sions would be theirs in abundance, but, sustained by the 
consciousness of their high responsibility and of divine 
support, they would rise superior to every hindrance 
and establish the kingdom. Until that end was meas¬ 
urably achieved they were to be indifferent to every 
apparent sign of the culmination of prophecy. 

But a day of tribulation was to be anticipated which 
was unparalleled, a day of distress, of vengeance, of 
destruction, a day when all who had the power should 
flee away for refuge from the desolating scourge. This 
was to be, in part at least, a manifestation of the coming 
of the Son of man. 

Had Jesus said no more His words would have been 
comparatively clear. Their fulfilment would have taken 
place at the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus some 
forty years later. The interval was truly one of bitter 
persecution but of increasing influence; the outcome a 
permanent establishment of Christianity as an inde¬ 
pendent religious communion. But He went on to 
declare, in the highly figurative language of apocryphal 
writers, a great disturbance of the heavens which should 
be the signal of the advent of the Son of man and the 
setting up of His kingdom. For this they were to 
watch and wait, all ready for instant service. In what 
sense this is to be understood no one can truly declare. 
It is either yet to be realized, or else is being progres¬ 
sively fulfilled as history is being made. To the one who 
reviews the achievements of nineteen centuries the latter 
view seems impressive. 


Chapter J+1+. Christ on Mount Olivet 171 

The really urgent message of Jesus to His disciples 
related not to times or seasons but to tempers and atti¬ 
tudes. His servants were to be watchful, conscientious, 
ever ready for the coming of their Lord, like thoughtful 
and honest slaves, entrusted with property; like the 
prudent virgins invited to accompany the bride in the 
wedding procession; like the conscientious servant who 
used his opportunities to the utmost on behalf of his 
master. 

The picture of the judgment scene conveys through its 
vivid figures the solemn declaration of the simple yet 
far-reaching basis on which it will be declared. Men 
will virtually do their own judging for all eternity by 
their deliberate attitude in this life toward their fellow- 
men. The social side of salvation was never more 
powerfully put. 

When Jesus had ended these words His company 
doubtless wended their way back to Bethany, for we 
have no record of activity on the following day. One 
of their number did not accompany them. Judas, 
nerved to the point of betrayal, slipped away to the San¬ 
hedrin and bargained to betray His Master, one of the 
puzzling deeds of history. Perhaps he, like Jesus, had 
become convinced of the hopeless hostility to Jesus of 
every one who seemed to count in Judaism. 

Ho one counts but God. This is the sober lesson of 
all history. 


172 The Life of Christ 

Chapter 45.—The Institution of the Lord’s Supper. 

Mk. 14:12-26; Jo. 13:1-30. 

So far as the Gospel records go they seem to assign no 
activity to the whole day following Tuesday. Jesus 
evidently spent that day in retirement, probably at Beth¬ 
any, with His intimate disciples. That this unhurried, 
restful period was unused by Him seems incredible in 
view of the interests at stake and the absorption of them 
all in the satisfaction of these interests. It is not an 
improbable suggestion that the fourteenth to the seven¬ 
teenth chapters of John’s Gospel reflect the conversations 
of this day as well as of the following evening. At all 
events Jesus was done with His public ministry. What¬ 
ever the remaining interval of respite might afford was 
reserved for His disciples, who were in sore need of the 
eternal impressions which He now gave them. 

The Gospels give us a singularly tender and beautiful 
account of the events which begin with the last journey 
to the city and end at Gethsemane. The founding of a 
simple commemorative custom, the performance of a 
never-forgotten act of symbolism, the pouring forth of 
deathless truth, the calm acceptance of a terrible and 
fully realized situation—these are the incidents of per¬ 
haps the most noteworthy evening in history, viewed in 
its outreach and influence as well as for itself. 

Some time on Thursday the disciples raised the ques¬ 
tion of the place where they should all eat the Passover. 
They had no thought of breaking with Judaism; Jesus 
Himself seems to have been careful to observe all the 
usual customs of His nation. Both He and they were 
in good standing in such respects. 

The reply of Jesus to their query and His subsequent 
procedure give the impression that He had planned care¬ 
fully for this occasion. He not only wished to eat the 
Passover supper with the Twelve, but to he whollv free 
from interruption of any kind. Possibly He feared the 
premature treachery of Judas. At all events the ac- 


Chapter 45. The Lord's Supper Instituted 173 

counts in the synoptic Gospels agree in ascribing a 
degree of mystery to the preparations. Ten out of the 
twelve disciples could not have known the meeting- 
place until they were led to it at evening. Moreover, 
the two selected by Jesus for the duty of making 
arrangements were His most reliable disciples. The 
house was evidently that of a follower. It was enough 
that two of His immediate circle appeared and asked for 
the room in the name of “the Teacher.” 

The Passover supper was properly eaten together by 
the company. It always was and still continues to be a 
family festival. The declaration of Jesus that they 
would eat it together was a recognition of their intimacy 
and community of interest. 

The two disciples had much to do. A lamb had to be 
killed and prepared at the temple between three and five 
o’clock in the afternoon; wine, herbs and unleavened 
cakes were bought; and a compound of fruit and vine¬ 
gar prepared in which the cakes could be dipped. All in 
the meantime had bathed in ceremonial preparation for 
the sacred observance. 

When they were all gathered in that quiet room, the 
heart of Jesus was very tender and loving, although 
sorely wounded. It is a sad commentary on life and 
human nature that the Twelve were able at that time 
of crisis to quarrel over precedence. The beautiful act 
of service on the part of the Master may have been 
needed as a quiet rebuke for their own forgetfulness and 
mistimed jealousy, yet it seems vastly more significant 
as an expression of that overflowing love which rejoices 
in simple service to its object. He and they were alone. 
He was about to draw them closer to Himself on an 
enduring basis of co-operating friendship. It was in 
His mind more to set an example than to point a 
rebuke. To show the joy of serviceableness and the 
dignity of self-forgetfulness was easy when their hearts 
were all responsive to the manifestation of enduring love. 

That there should be among the Twelve even one who 
could not enter into this blessed fellowship was enough 


174 


The Life of Christ 


to mar the perfect harmony of the gathering. Before 
expressing all that was in His heart or instituting the 
permanent symbol of their active friendship it was 
needful to get rid of the traitor. Judas had made his 
bargain; he had determined to play his false part; he 
was no longer by any shadow of right a member of the 
company or entitled to its hallow r ed experiences. Jesus 
therefore announced frankly the almost incredible fact 
that one of those in His presence was ready to betray 
Him. Each disciple was conscious of many a lapse in 
the past; each one knew how truly the Master had fore¬ 
seen and lovingly forestalled his offenses; they could not 
but ask whether He could possibly mean any one of 
them, waiting for His fateful reply. It deepened the 



The Last Supper. By Leonardo da Vinci. 

This picture represents the consternation of the desciples on bring told by 
Jesus that one of them should betray Him. Their names beginning on the left are: 
Bartholomew, James the son of Aiphaeus, Andrew, Judas, Peter leaning behind 
Judas, John, James the brother of John leaning behind Thomas, Thomas, Philip, 
Matthew, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean. 

pathos of His declaration when He added that the one 
who could find it in his heart to do this base act was 
willing in his hypocrisy to share in that symbolic meal. 
Possibly Judas had not realized until that moment the 
real enormity of his offense; possibly he had lulled his 
conscience by the thought that he was forcing the Mas¬ 
ter to take the step toward a public acceptance of the 
national leadership that only a crisis would accomplish; 
at all events, the naked truth came clearly to his vision 
now. He knew that the words of Jesus were absolutelv 



























Chapter 46 . The Farewell Discourse 175 


true, and that they were meant for him. A reckless des¬ 
peration took possession of him. He fled from that holy 
spot and went to his fate. 

Out of the simple and sound fellowship of that hour 
Jesus created an eternal symbol of His undying love, a 
reminder of the spiritual covenant between Him and His 
followers. It was a simple institution but commemora¬ 
tive of the most noteworthy fact in the world—the sacri¬ 
ficial attitude toward men, and of the strongest conceiv¬ 
able tie,—the union of souls for the promotion of spir¬ 
itual fellowship, the conquering of sin and the living of 
the truly Godlike life. The supper which He enjoined 
was the symbol of the future rather than of the past, a 
sacred memorial of Him who gave significance and sub¬ 
stance to that unfolding future, a continuing assurance 
of His inexhaustible love and friendliness. To the 
eleven it was a happy, tender, unforgettable time of 
close companionship; to the world of disciples it has 
become the occasion of a continuing act of covenant 
renewal, emphasizing not responsibility or privilege 
alone but certitude and strength. 

That any one had to be excluded from that circle has 
always seemed a tragedy; how equally saddening is the 
self-exclusion of many to this day, who might well 
belong to the brotherhood of believers. 


Chapter 46,—The Farewell Discourse in the Upper Room. 

Jo. 13 : 31—17: 26. 

Literature has preserved no record of the last words 
of a leader t© his followers which approach in sublimity, 
tenderness and assurance these parting counsels of 
Jesus to those who had shared His fortunes for the 
crowded years of His ministry. Moreover, by their 
very nature these words have become and will ever re¬ 
main the assurance of unmeasurable comfort and stim¬ 
ulus to successive generations of loyal disciples. 

The quietness and self-possession of Jesus should not 



176 


The Life of Christ 


blind us to the depth and power of the emotion which 
was stirring His soul. Only as we realize it can we 
justly value His ministry to them and to the world of 
believers that sacred night. Were there a real shrine for 
Christian adoration and adornment, it would not be in 
fulness of significance the manger at Bethlehem, not 

even the garden of Geth- 
semane, possibly not even 
the hill of Calvary or the 
tomb of J oseph, but 
rather this upper room, 
where words were said 
which summed up the 
whole personality and ob¬ 
jective of Jesus. It was 
His last opportunity to 
enable the Eleven to see 
with His eyes of far- 
reaching vision, to be 
aggressive with His God- 
anchored confidence, to 
thrill with a constant 
sen'se of joyful compan¬ 
ionship, never to be broken, and to deliberately plan 
the evangelization of the world. 

Certain dominating ideas He emphasized in varied 
ways—an approaching separation, inevitable and not to 
be regretted, since it would lead to a closer and more 
permanent union between Him and them; the power 
that would be theirs in proportion as they realized this 
intimate fellowship; its basis in an absolute confidence 
in Jesus as the human expression of the character and 
will of God, the Father; the triumphant, satisfying 
peacefulness of spirit which should be their normal habit 
of mind amid any anxieties which should arise; the ex¬ 
pectation of overcoming hindrances which they might 
encourage through the practice of prayer; the continu¬ 
ation of His helpful contact with them through the 
Helper who was to be; their education, their sustaining, 



The Upper Chamber. 

From a photograph. 
















Chapter 16. The Farewell Discourse 177 

their supplementing by this divine Helper; the need of 
a deep and enduring love which could meet every test, 
such a love as He was manifesting for them; and the 
fine friendship which He had ever sought to show for 
them and to develop in their hearts. 

These words, so precious^ so full of meaning, so com¬ 
pact, seem to represent the teachings of a period rather 
than the conversation of an evening. It is difficult not 
to conclude that on this particular evening Jesus con¬ 
cluded and reaffirmed the thought of the days of close 
companionship that had preceded. However, we have 
truly in these imperishable sayings the very heart of the 
Gospel. It was the unreserved outpouring of the ex¬ 
pression of the innermost consciousness of Jesus. 

As a whole it was an evening to uplift and cheer. 
Jesus faced His shameful death but His first thought 
was likewise of the glorification which would result. We 
can imagine in some slight degree the awakening of His 
soul to the great fact that the time of self-repression and 
obedience and sacrifice was almost over, that the day of 
His recognition and exaltation was at hand, that there 
would soon be a Peter declaring in public, "Let all the 
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made 
Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified/’ 
He set Himself before the Eleven as a bestower of power 
upon the faithful and persistent disciple, as the com¬ 
plete and perfect revelation of the Father and very 
God Himself. 

In unforgettable terms Jesus clinched the relation¬ 
ship of unreserved friendliness which had grown up 
between Him and them. He and they were as truly one 
in spirit as the branches and the vine-stock were one in 
fruit-forming vitality. They loved to call Him their 
Master, but He had developed a deeper and stronger 
bond of association. He had treated them as friends, 
sharing with them the deepest realities of His spiritual 
life (Jo. 15:15). In the future to which they all were 
looking they were to cherish among themselves this 
same spirit of generous, uncalculating friendliness, and 


178 


The Life of Christ 


to join with Him in forwarding the progress of the 
kingdom of God. 

He mnst needs disappear from their circle, but only 
that their temporary and intermittent intercourse should 
be exchanged for an abiding, more precious, persistent 
and fruitful relationship. 

In His place would come the Holy Spirit,—Helper,— 
God’s permanent manifestation of Himself in human 
experience, whose share in the direction and influence of 
their personal religious life would be real and constant, 
for the fuller grasping of essential truth, for the keener 
realization of the facts which made the world’s redemp¬ 
tion a necessity, for the adequate exhibition of Jesus to 
the world as Christ and Lord, for the steady enlighten¬ 
ment of the great body of believers. 

To those who were able to lay hold of such ideas 
Jesus left a great legacy of peace (Jo. 14:27; 16: 33). 
Those who could enter into victorious fellowship with 
Him had nothing to fear, no reason even for continued 
anxiety; they were His. 

It was very fitting that our Lord should close this 
sacred assemblage with a consecrating prayer. The 
ideas which dominate it are the thoughts which quick¬ 
ened His life and made sacred their fellowship. He 
asked for strength to properly conclude the life which 
had exhibited the Father in His fulness unto men, that 
He might normally resume His heavenly glory. He 
then petitioned for those who had been entrusted to 
Him by God, who had yet a work to do in the world, 
whom He would bring close to God in an abiding and 
joyous relationship. He prayed that they might be 
able to stand apart from the evil spirit of selfishness 
which ruins the worldly temperament, and that they 
might deliberately undertake this separateness as a duty. 
Then with the thought of the coming body of believers 
He prayed for their mutual love and exhibition of a 
spirit of heavenly-mindedness, until their love should 
indeed be as deep, as constant, as forceful, as irresistible 
as the love of God Himself for Jesus, His Son. 


Chapter Jf. 7. At the Garden of Getlisemane J79 

That Jesus has made us His real friends, that He 
summons us to continued companionship and to a co¬ 
operation in the glorious work of world redemption, that 
we are not called on to fight unaided, and that our 
every-day characteristics may indeed become like those 
of God are wonderful thoughts. What other revealer of 
God in all the ages ever dreamed of them or gave them 
expression ? 


Chapter 47.—At the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Mt. 26: 36-56. 

There are some who place the conversation of Mt. 
26:31-35 after the close of the gathering in the upper 
room, while the little group was on its way out of the 
city. The mind of Jesus seemed to dwell upon the sad 
fact that in His time of agony and trial He would be 
virtually alone. The test would be too severe for even 
such loyalty as theirs. It would not be a real deser¬ 
tion, merely a temporary loss of courage, which would 
cause them to humbly realize their weakness and 
gather new strength because of that realization. 
For Simon Peter the 
bitter consciousness 
of a threefold denial 
of his Lord would be 
so effective for the 
steadying of his loy¬ 
alty and the strength¬ 
ening of his purpose 
that in coming days 
he would become the 
mainstay of his breth¬ 
ren. To none of View in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

them was Jesus’ dec- From a photograph, 

laration that He would go before them to Galilee sig¬ 
nificant at the time; but it revealed His confidence that 
their loyalty would bend but never be broken. 










180 


The Life of Christ 


They soon came, just outside the walls, at the foot of 
the Mount of Olives, to a garden where Jesus loved to 
rest. It was so common a resort for them all that Judas 
felt entirely sure that Jesus could be found there. At 
the entrance to this garden or orchard of olive trees 
Jesus left eight of the disciples, taking Peter, James 
and John with Him. In such a crisis as the one before 
Him only His most confidential associates could be of 
moral help. With the pathetic yearning of a loyal, 
trustful, helpful nature Jesus sought for friendly sup¬ 
port in this time of trial from those who knew Him 
best. But He had to win His victory unaided. They 
could not grasp His need. 

Going with them to the secluded portions of the 
garden where He would be unobserved, He told them 
of the weight of sorrow and dread, almost worse than 
death itself, which was on His heart, and appealed to 
them for their active sym¬ 
pathy and companionship. 
It was His hour; the cup 
was full to the brim. 

They saw the Master 
walk a little distance away 
and then prostrate Himself 
in prayer. In the quiet of 
that midnight hour they 
heard His appealing words 
to the Father that if possi¬ 
ble the cup might not be His 
to drain, and then, perhaps 
after a long interval of ag¬ 
onizing petition, the expres¬ 
sion of heroic consecration, 
“Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” The quiet of the night 
and the lateness of the hour made them drowsy and, 
before they realized it, they were asleep. So Jesus 
found them when He finished His first vigil. He ex¬ 
pressed. keen disappointment that they were not alive to 
the seriousness of the crisis which was at hand. It was 



Old Olive Tree in Gethsemane. 











Chapter Jfl. At the Garden of Gethsemane 181 

as vital for them as for Him. Peter, the confident, had 
failed at this his first test after boasting of what he 
would do. Both he and they needed to realize the neces¬ 
sity of unwearying vigilance and persistent prayerful¬ 
ness, if they were to become able to meet and overcome 
the testings that were before them. Great resolves 
would not count in the face of cowardice or 
forgetfulness. 

A second time Jesus went away and prayed for 
strength and persistency in His hour of trial. Again 
He returned and found them sleeping. They were not 
alive to the immediateness of the peril of which He had 
spoken. Amid their accustomed surroundings, in famil¬ 
iar intercourse with their beloved Leader, of whose power 
they had had so many proofs, how could they make His 
humiliation and death a reality? They felt that as 
before, when He had spoken of these things, they 
simply could not take place. 

Coming to the three for the third time, He told them 
that the time of waiting was over. Those who were 
seeking Him were at the very gates of the garden. The 
glare of torches, the clank of armed men marching, the 
murmur of voices, proclaimed the coming of a throng. 
Judas was at their head. When he left the supper 
room, he had doubtless hurried away to the priests, who 
organized a party for the apprehension of Jesus. When 
they did not find Him at the house where the supper had 
taken place, it was easy for Judas to surmise where He 
would be found and to lead the band to Gethsemane. 

The mind of Judas will ever be an enigma to the 
loyal Christian. His place even among the Twelve 
occasions constant query. He must have been originally 
a man of real promise in every way. He developed busi¬ 
ness ability, so that he and not Matthew became the 
treasurer and almoner of the group. He must have 
been one who burned with zeal in those early days in 
Galilee. Some have thought to excuse his disloyalty by 
representing his action as intended to force Jesus to 
pursue the policy which Judas regarded as necessary and 


182 


The Life of Christ 


right. He was certainly a man who stood zealously for 
the Judaism of the day and could not sympathize with 
the departures of Jesus. Judas was not, like the others, 
of a teachable nature. In his narrow-minded zeal he 
must have set his judgment above that of his Master, 
but we cannot explain, away his treachery by thus 
accounting for its beginnings. That he bargained for 
the betrayal of Jesus is a fatal blot upon his character. 
The most charitable view of his action regards it as that of 
one beside himself with vexation at the folly of his leader. 

It was a curious company that came with Judas to 
take Jesus into custody. The officer in command was 
a Eoman soldier with others from the squad which was 
ever on duty at the temple. With them were temple 
police and priests. A strong band, indeed, for securing 
one unarmed man! But Jesus had plenty of supporters 
and defenders, whose swords would have been un¬ 
sheathed, had they known of His plight. The San¬ 
hedrin was well aware of this contingency and guarded 
against it. 

Judas was cunning and resourceful. He arranged as 
the sign which the soldiers should recognize the very 
salutation of friendship which Jesus and His disciples 
were wont to use. Thus unobtrusively he did his prom¬ 
ised service. With hasty impulse Peter struck one 
hearty blow in defense of the Master, but Jesus quieted 
him with a disapproving w r ord. 

The narrative of the fourth Gospel has inherent truth. 
The soldiers were looking for a dangerous agitator. 
When Jesus with calm dignity announced Himself to be 
the one they sought they were overwhelmed and dis¬ 
mayed. He was the very picture of nobleness and sin¬ 
cerity, in fullest self-command. With impressiveness 
He yielded Himself to the band. This was too much 
for the disciples; they fled for their lives in despair. 

This narrative emphasizes the place of prayer in the 
life of Jesus. By it He passed through the crisis, but 
even then He would only use His power in prayer for 
reasonable ends. 


Chapter J+S. Jesus' Trial and Condemnation 183 

Chapter 48.—The Trial and Condemnation of Jesus. 

Mt. 26:57—27:31. 

The accounts which have been preserved in the Gos¬ 
pels of the rapid series of events concluding with the 
formal condemnation of Jesus to death by crucifixion 
raise many puzzling questions to the harmonist, but 
agree in certain outstanding representations. They all 
lay stress upon the haste with which Jesus was brought 
to trial, the unscrupulousness of His foes, their venge¬ 
ful and violent attitude toward Him and His complete 
self-mastery. The tables were turned in every instance. 
Jesus was the real judge; instinctively priests and gov¬ 
ernor alike admitted it. The victory of the hierarchy 
was a barren one, quite unsatisfying to them. The con¬ 
demnation of the Roman governor was by his own admis¬ 
sion a concession to the clamor of the mob, unwarranted 
by any recognizable standard of legal procedure. The 
only way of accomplishing the cruel deed on which the 
leaders had set their hearts was by overriding their own 
canons of law or even of natural justice. 

Jesus was hurried away from the garden by His 
captors to those who had instigated His arrest and were 
eagerly waiting the outcome. The fourth Gospel 
declares that He was first taken to Annas, the true leader 
of Jewish opinion and probable director of operations, 
a priest, who though deposed from the high-priesthood, 
retained its actual powers through the successive ap¬ 
pointment of his relatives. Not improbably his house 
and that of Caiaphas, the high priest de jure, were the 
same. 

There was from the Sanhedrin’s point of view every 
reason for haste in dealing with Jesus. They feared a 
rallying of His friends and were therefore unwilling to 
put Him in custody during the feast days. But long- 
observed custom forbade an execution during them. 
Hence the greatest speed was necessary in securing His 
death or at least His imprisonment by the Romans 
before they began. 


184 


The Life of Christ 


Nothing seems more curious than the mingling of 
the legal and unjustifiable in the Jewish trial of Jesus. 
The council did not scruple to meet at an unusual hour 
nor to make use of witnesses who were wholly inept. 
On the other hand, they were not willing to condemn 
Jesus on the testimony of one witness nor did any one 
deliberately attempt to supply the missing evidence. 



So-called House of Caiaphas. 


Evidently they were determined to bring about a vote 
of condemnation, but to do it under the forms of law. 

The adjuration of the high priest was not illegal, yet 
it was unfair. Jesus need not have answered it, but He 
was not one to keep silence when questioned contemptu¬ 
ously regarding His most sacred conviction. His dec¬ 
laration regarding His Messianic triumph soon to be 
accomplished really implied that before long they would 
be at the bar of judgment, not He. 

This infuriated and perhaps actually shocked the 
members of the Sanhedrin. They themselves became 
the legal witnesses and united in pronouncing the sen¬ 
tence of condemnation. It may be questioned whether 
the declaration by itself would have seemed blasphemous, 
had its meaning not been made clear by the things which 
Jesus had said and done before. He not only declared 
Himself to be the Messiah, but likewise that His idea of 
the Messiah and His work was like that of God. 

Other trials were going on in the open court that 
night. Peter and John were being tested. Peter had no 
thought of denying his Lord. He spoke with the sud- 








Chapter Jf.8. Jesus'Trial and Condemnation 185 

den impulse to self-preservation so natural to every one. 
It was the sorrowful yet tender look of the Master that 
went to the really loyal heart of Peter and he rushed 
away from those searching, reproachful eyes. John 
apparently remained openly loyal to Jesus although he 
could do nothing for Him except to give Him the com¬ 
fort of his loving presence. 

While Jesus was being detained until He could be 
brought before the procurator the servants of the palace 
were permitted to do with Him as they would. Blind¬ 
folding Him they amused themselves- by striking Him 
in the face and asking Him to indicate His assailant. 
Even if the Sanhedrists took no part in the outrage, they 
rejoiced in every new humiliation. 

At a very early hour Jesus was led away to the palace 
of Herod. Into it the leaders would not go, but sent 
Jesus by the hand of some agent into the presence of 
Pilate, the procurator. They had condemned Him on 
the charge of blasphemy; they altered the charge before 
Pilate to one of high treason. This new charge clearly 
revealed their determination to put Him to death at 
whatever cost of perjury or baseness. Only a few days 
before, in the presence of some of them, Jesus had 
upheld the right of Caesar to demand tribute. Had the 
charge been true, Jesus would have been the idol of the 
Jewish people. Pilate gave it little credit, apparently, 
yet he could not wholly ignore a charge so serious. He 
prepared at once to examine into the matter. 

What an unveiling of genuine character there was 
that morning! Each personality before the calm gaze 
of Jesus stood forth in its reality. Peter realized his 
disloyalty, Judas the black infamy of his deed. The 
Pharisees and priests gave open expression to their pas¬ 
sionate hatred of the quiet, self-contained prisoner whom, 
they could fetter but never crush. Pilate, the practical 
man of the world, astute in judgment, swift to catch the 
insincerity of their accusations, was still a man of expedi¬ 
ents, a trimmer, one who valued his own ease and wel¬ 
fare beyond any desire to do justice. He saw clearly 


186 


The Life of Christ 


-what was liis proper decision, but he proposed to do 
what was best for himself. Of Herod even less can be 
said. The contempt of Jesus for that wholly corrupt 
ruler was beyond words. 

The trials before Pilate were really a farce. The 
Jewish rulers knew their man and that they could 
coerce him into condemning Jesus. He deluded him¬ 
self for a while by the thought that he could execute 
his own will, but he dared not use decisive measures. 
We are almost led to pity his indecision, at one time 
offering to compromise by scourging Jesus severely and 
letting Him go, at another trying to argue with the 
mob which confronted him, and finally proposing to 
release Jesus as a Passover prisoner. He was outgen¬ 
eraled and humiliated by the triumphant Sanhedrists, 
who compelled him by threats which he dared not dis¬ 
regard to pronounce the desired sentence. 

The trial of Jesus was a travesty on justice. Three 
times Pilate declared Him innocent. He went to His 
death without a stain. His enemies were humiliated; 
their vindictiveness only served to set forth more clearly 
His dignity and purity and innocence. 

Human selfishness crucified Jesus and is crucifying 
Him afresh to-day. Whoever seeks to order his relig¬ 
ious life after standards which are his own and yet 
claims to be a disciple of Jesus is perilously near the 
sin of Judas and the hierarchy. 


Chapter J+9. The Crucifixion of Jesus 187 

Chapter 49.—The Crucifixion of Jesus, 

Mt. 27: 32-66. 

It has often been noted that the real cause of the 
intense suffering of Jesus on the cross was not the mere 
physical agony due to the wounds in His hands and feet 
and to the suspension of His body from these lacerated 
limbs. Men often suffered thus for days before death 
released them. Jesus died in a few hours. He was 
racked by an agony beyond the reach of words. It was 
not the shameful degradation of the cross that moved 
Him thus, for He well knew that out of the shame would 
come His glorification. Never was He so clearly a King 
of men as when He hung upon the cross. We can only 
understand His speedy death by recalling the repeated 
and accumulated torture He had suffered since the scene 
at Gethsemane. Betrayed, deserted, insulted, execrated, 
attacked, scourged in the cruellest fashion,—enough of 
itself to lower the vitality of a man—He had continu¬ 
ously suffered the most intense agony of body and spirit. 
How great a burden rested on His soul, placed there by 
His passionate love for men and vivid realization of 
their heedlessness, their wastage, their ungodliness, only 
He could know. But we can faintly appreciate thfe 
effect of the rapid succession of experiences, each testing 
His endurance and self-control to its utmost. Within 
the space of a day Jesus crowded the anguish of a lin¬ 
gering martyrdom. No wonder He could not endure 
the long and bitter agony of the cross. 

For the very reason that Jesus by His death trans¬ 
formed the cross from a symbol of shame and ignominy 
to a token of glorious triumph, and because we do not 
see with our eyes its dreadful realities, it is not possible 
for* us to fully realize the horror with which ^ death by 
crucifixion was contemplated by the average Jew. “En¬ 
during the cross, despising the shame/ 5 meant something 
more to the reader of the days of Paul than a mere 
willingness to suffer. That Jesus died on the cross was 


188 


The Life of Christ 


a real “stumbling-block” to the Jew, a sufficient indica¬ 
tion to the average enlightened Jew that Jesus was not 
the Messiah He claimed to be. Crucifixion was a death 
which no Roman citizen could suffer; it was reserved for 
slaves or criminals, for those who were not regarded as 
entitled to any consideration. It was this fact that gave 
the sting of deadly insult to Pilate’s inscription over the 
head of Jesus. The procurator saw, if the priesthood 



The Hill Called Calvary. 

Calvary, or Golgotha, “the place of a skull” (Mt. 27:33), was outside the city 
wall (Heb. 13:12), not far away (Jo. 19: so), and apparently near a public highway 
(Mt. 27:39). Its exact location is much disputed. Ancient tradition connects it 
with the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre (see cut on page 193), but the proba¬ 
bility that this place was then as now inside the wall renders this doubtful. Of late 
years the so-called New Calvary, just north of the city, near the Damascus road, 
which from one point of view has a curious resemblance to a skull, has been accepted 
by many as the true site. 


did not, the degradation which they had invited for 
themselves. It is possible that Pilate took advantage 
of the presence in his dungeons of two robbers awaiting 
execution to emphasize the insult. In any case it was 
marked. 

As the procession headed by the grim group of soldiers 
guarding the victims with their crosses wound up the 
hill outside the wall of the city, Jesus gave one more 
evidence of His constant thoughtfulness. When the 
women, whose intuitions then as now led them to place 
their sympathy more unerringly than did their fathers 
and sons, lamented His cruel fate, He bade them weep 
rather for themselves and for their beloved country, 
going to swift ruin, than for Him, so soon to be glorified. 





















Chapter 1+9. The Crucifixion of Jesus 189 

That same habit of carefulness for others which dis- 
tinguished His whole life expressed itself in His prayer 
for the rude soldiers who nailed Him to the cross; in 
His placing His mother in the care of His nearest 
friend; in His response to the brigand who hung near 
Him; in His last word as reported in the fourth Gos¬ 
pel (19: 30). The world of mankind was ever on His 
heart. 

With supreme courage Jesus met the crisis. He 
refused the stupefying draught given to the poor vic¬ 
tims before their crucifixion. No word of reproach for 
His enemies passed His lips, but only gracious and 
kindly expressions. Only in the last extremity of His 
pain and weakness did He seem to momentarily falter. 
If His cry to God in the words of the Psalmist was 
indeed an expression of His real feeling, it was followed 
by a deep and strong conviction of God’s abiding pres¬ 
ence. “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” 
was the confident utterance of His inmost self. 

Over against the mockery of the stragglers and the 
priests stands in welcome relief the devotion of the 
disciples. They had recovered from their panic and 
with the group of faithful women were watching the 
dreadful scene with saddened countenances. This sud¬ 
den death in this shameful manner of their beloved 
Leader seemed the death blow to all their ardent hopes. 
Yet their love for Jesus was so sincere that they watched 
their opportunity to render to Him the last services of 
tender respect and braved the danger of the proximity to 
Him. 

Even upon the centurion, hardened to such scenes, the 
dying Saviour made a deep impression. Never had he 
known one who met his death in such fashion. “Truly,” 
said he, in his half-heathen mingling of divine and 
human ideas, “this was a son of God,” by which he must 
have meant “a godlike sort of man.” 

In glorious fact the death of Jesus “replaced the 
evil associations of the cross by ideas of inexhaustible 
beauty and significance.” His death was so full of dig- 


190 


The Life of Christ 


nity that it drove out the thought of shame. The very 
ones who saw the cross on Golgotha with horror-stricken 
eyes were heard not long after to rejoice over it. It was 
the symbol of sacrifice bnt likewise that of triumph and 
glory. Through His Voluntary death upon the cross 
Jesus forever made it the symbol of noble, deliberate, 
worthy self-sacrifice, before which evil loses its power. 

All this was hidden from the hearts of the faithful 
few that afternoon when to the surprise of all Jesus 
gave up His life. They only wished to save His sacred 

form from further ill- 
treatment or from the 
usual exposure for days 
or weeks by taking it 
away at once and laying 
it in a tomb. Fortu¬ 
nately there were men 
of influence who shared 
this wish and were able 
to secure from the pro¬ 
curator an order for the 
body. Reverently and 
This cut shows the entrance t/a ro^k-cut tenderly it was taken 



Entrance to a Tomb near the New 
Calvary. 


and borne away 
the tomb not far 


tomb in a garden near the New Calvary, with down 
a track for a rolling stone. This tomb has a i 
receptacle for one body, and many suppose it bO 

be the tomb of Jesus, away which had never 

been used. Here without the attention usually given 
at such a time, for it was very late, but swathed in 
clean linen wrappings, the body of Jesus was placed, 
until the Sabbath should have passed. Nothing more 
could be done that day, so with sad and hopeless hearts 
the disciples went away. 

The cross has a many-sided significance for the 
disciples of Jesus to-day. More than any other 
experience it reveals His nobleness, His fortitude, His 
fixed habit of thinking of others, His absolute confi¬ 
dence in God. More than any other it exhibits the true 
nature of that sinfulness which demanded such a sacri¬ 
fice. Better than any other it sets forth the real glory 







Chapter 50. The Risen Christ 


191 


of heavenly-minded self-sacrifice. Jesus was never so 
deeply impressed upon the world as by His voluntary 
exaltation on the cross. Its humiliation became a badge 
of honor. The way of the cross He bequeathed to His 
disciples as the way of true service. 


Chapter 50.—The Risen Christ. 

Mt. 28:1-15; Lu. 24:13-43; Jo. ch. 20. 

By every rule of history the work of Jesus among men 
should have ended at the cross. He was an apparently 
discredited man, whose pretensions were clearly re¬ 
vealed as unfounded, whose plans had come to naught. 
His friends might regard Him as a hero; some might 
believe Him to have been a martyr; but who could think 
of Him as triumphant in view of His death? His disci¬ 
ples, during the Sabbath that began as He was laid to 
rest in the new tomb, were sick at heart, crushed with 
grief and disappointment and filled with foreboding. 
To their gracious and beloved Leader they were not dis¬ 
posed to be unfaithful; but He had become a tender 
memory. It would seem that their first thought was 
that the future would have to be lived apart from Him. 

The narratives of the resurrection imply the apathetic 
attitude of those who had been hitherto devoted to 
Jesus. They were not, on that Sunday morning, the 
first day of the week, looking for something to happen. 
The women were intent upon giving proper care to the 
body of their Master, but the disciples as a body were 
dazed and disheartened. They gathered at some ren¬ 
dezvous, known even to the women, where they were 
reasonably safe from molestation, that they might lay 
plans for the future. Here, probably, they were, but 
without any definite outlook, at daybreak following the 
Sabbath. 

Including the summary by Paul in the fifteenth chap¬ 
ter of First Corinthians there are five passages which 



192 


The Life of Christ 


contribute to the story of the resurrection. These nar¬ 
ratives are fairly independent and raise many curious 
questions, for the double reason that they observe a 
curious but worthy reticence and lay stress upon the 
personal impressions of the resurrection rather than its 
physical phenomena. 

The reticence of the Gospels as compared with the 
freedom of an apocryphal writing, such as the acts of 
Pilate, is noteworthy. The latter plainly aims to sat¬ 
isfy curiosity; the former aim to set forth a spiritual 
experience. It is not unnatural for believers to wish 
for accurate information regarding the method and war¬ 
rant of the actual victory of Jesus over death; it would 
be unworthy of a Gospei to describe them, even were it 
possible. 

The different narratives have interesting differences. 
The account by Paul merely summarizes the appearances 
of Jesus in succession. He does not describe them in 
detail, nor give them at first hand. The account in 
Mark’s Gospel dwells upon the early visit of the women 
to the tomb, their astonishment at finding it open, the 
message to the disciples and Peter, and their absolute 
confusion of mind. That of the first Gospel is much 
more detailed. We note that it declares that the 
women were not so affected by what they heard as to be 
unable to hasten to bring the disciples the glad tidings. 
It also declares that Jesus showed Himself to the 
women as they were on their way. Luke’s Gospel indi¬ 
cates the incredulity of the disciples when they heard the 
women’s words. According to the Gospel of John, 
Mary Magdalene was the informant of the two closest 
disciples, hurrying to the house where they were stay¬ 
ing (Jo. 20:1-10). On hearing the exciting news they 
ran together to the tomb. They found it empty, yet the 
position and appearance of the grave-clothes precluded 
a theory of violence and seemed to suggest at once the 
glorious fact that there had been a resurrection. Mary, 
having perhaps started away from the tomb to tell these 
two and not, therefore, having been with the other 


Chapter 50. The Risen Christ 


193 


women who met Jesus in the way, returned to the 
tomb alone. Her heart was crushed with grief, for the 
death of Jesus was a deep personal sorrow to her. 
Through her blinding tears she saw one whom 
she took to be the gardener, and appealed to him 
to make known to her what had been done with the 
beloved body. Jesus needed but to speak a word to have 
her recognize Him and fall at His feet in adoration. 



The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 

From a photograph. 

The smaller dome covers the site of the chuch built by Constantine in the fourth 
century; the larger one covers the traditional Holy Sepulchre itself; the Gothic 
front was built by the Crusaders. 

The story of the resurrection would be very incom¬ 
plete if lacking the beautiful story of the walk to 
Emmaus that afternoon, and the accounts of His 
appearance to the disciple group at Jerusalem that 
evening. As an effective literary product the story of 
the journey of the two disciples is worthy of comment. 
It is one of the finest passages in a beautiful Gospel. 
The wondering, saddened disciples, their naive expres¬ 
sion of their former hopes and present helplessness, their 
joy in the conversation about their beloved Master, 
their hospitality, the sudden lifting of the veil which had 
blinded their eyes by the use of the familiar custom, 
the eagerness with which they retraced their steps— 






















The Life of Christ 


19 Jf 

these particulars read like a blessed and joyful experi¬ 
ence. But it did not stop there. While they were relating 
to the others these events, the Master Himself was with 
them, gladdening their hearts and assuring their trem¬ 
bling faith. Even Thomas, the sturdy doubter, became at 
last convinced that his Lord had indeed arisen from 
the dead. 

Whoever attempts to explain the resurrection gives 
himself an impossible task. In the nature of the case 
it was a mystery and always will remain so. Our prin¬ 
cipal evidence regarding it is the undoubted fact that 
its comprehension made a sudden, revolutionary yet per¬ 
manent change in the disciple group. They who a few 
hours before had been prostrated became full of courage. 
Their apathy gave place to insight and aggressiveness. 
Once more they could begin to make plans as a united 
band with a future to work out. Their confidence in 
Jesus sprang up afresh and became the basis of an 
enduring, sacrificial faith. 

To them His resurrection was the first step toward the 
speedy coming of the kingdom of God. They antici¬ 
pated it within that generation and urged Him to indi¬ 
cate the exact date of its fruition. But it also assured 
His permanent and active relationship to them. No 
wonder they were filled with joy and hopefulness. 

The resurrection has a message no less inspiring for 
the Christian of to-day. It is the basis of our confidence 
that Jesus is our living Lord, that we can live near to 
Him, can commune with Him in prayer, and receive 
from Him influences as from a powerful and beloved 
friend. This was made possible by His resurrection 
into the new and higher life of the Spirit, which may 
be ours too, because it became His. 


195 


Chapter 51. The Last Instructions 

Chapter 51.—The Last Instructions. 

Mt. 28:16-20; Lu. 24: 44-53; Jo. ch. 21. 

Such a ministry as that of Jesus could scarcely have 
closed even with the kindling of the resurrection hope 
in the hearts of His followers. It needed to be followed 
up, illustrated, enforced by actual contact with His 
inspiring personality in order that it be more than a 
wonderful experience and an awe-inspiring memory, and 
become instead a genuine source of vital power. The 
period which ensued between the appearance of Jesus 
after His burial and His final departure had this signifi- 



Church of the Ascension, on Mount Olivet. 

From a photograph. 


cance. It was a time of quiet readjustment, of growing 
spiritual conviction, of kindling enthusiasm, of unceas¬ 
ing constructive thinking. All the old puzzles of faith 
were now clear. A thousand perplexities had begun to 
resolve themselves into encouragements. Above all the 
disciples had an indubitable reason for a growing convic¬ 
tion that they were not creatures of the day, subject to 
its uncertainties, but spiritual beings born unto eternal 
life. 






196 


The Life of Christ 


That all this, however, took a little time was evidenced 
by the first impulse of the disciples. They had re¬ 
turned to Galilee but had had no vision there as yet of 
their Master. They were awaiting the appearance which 
had been promised. They hardly knew what to do. In 
those days of enforced waiting by the well-known shore 
the old instinct for familiar work revived and, led by 
Peter, six of them went fishing. While at that homely 
but practical labor, so natural to them, the looked-for 
appearance came in the most familiar fashion. Jesus 
was made known to them because in following His 
instructions instead of their own devices they drew in 
boat loads of fish. It was a beautiful way of introduc¬ 
ing Himself, a little acted parable of life. 

We can readily imagine the thoughts which surged 
through Peter’s heart, impulsive, loving, great-souled 
Peter! Without hesitation he leaped into the sea the 
quicker to join his Lord. Just as promptly he has¬ 
tened in obedience to His direction to drag ashore the 
great net full of fishes. How he wished that by some 
great deed he could win back the love and trust of his 
beloved Master! 

Jesus had him in mind. He had not once forgotten 
His brave and generous follower. Peter had already 
been forgiven, but he had been led, perhaps unwittingly, 
to deny Him thrice, so Jesus drew him gently into a 
threefold utterance of his love. The repeated question 
was a kind of challenge to Peter to test himself most 
carefully before venturing to boast again. It was a 
bitter lesson, but concluded with a reassuring charge. 
He was once more publicly given apostolic responsi¬ 
bility, never again to dishonor it. 

It is interesting to note what Jesus did to foster the 
growing earnestness and courage of the disciples. With 
an occasional word which seemed to look forward He 
still in the main sustained a friendly intercourse. It 
was as if the great thing for them was a vision of the 
truth that life is mainly a spiritual not a material 
reality. He wished to convince them that He was truly 


Chapter 51. The Last Instructions 197 

within their ken although they knew that He was no 
longer one of them. He meant to make His presence 
forever intensely real. 

The course of events during the days that followed we 
cannot declare. Did He, as on the way to Emmaus, lay 
the foundation through the earnest and thorough discus¬ 
sion of their interpretations of Scripture for enabling 
them to readjust their points of view and re-establish 
their convictions in accordance with the glad assurances 
of His spiritual Messiahship? So Lu. 24: 44, 45, 
would, perhaps, imply. Did He lead them again amid 
the familiar scenes, made sacred to them by the recol¬ 
lection of many a pregnant utterance, now understood 
in its fulness of meaning? Did they discuss with Him 
the active future, which they were so soon to inaugurate ? 
Possibly not, yet these weeks were a time of transforma¬ 
tion and of real enlightenment. At its end they were a 
very different set of men. 

His closing message was a glorious appeal not alone to 
them but to every earnest, loyal follower of His for all 
time. 

It recognized (Lu. 24:48) the special importance of 
the fact that they could speak at first hand. There was 
a force in their testimony which was possible to no 
others. Men listen to-day with open ears to the real 
experiences of those who have been with Jesus and can 
testify that He is their eternal Friend and Saviour. The 
Christian worker who can repeat only what he has 
heard but never has had a vision of the Lord, has no real 
message to proclaim. 

As witnesses they had (Lu. 24:47) a far-reaching 
duty. It was to declare the mission of Jesus throughout 
the broad world beginning at Jerusalem. The holy 
city of Judaism was the right starting-point. If they 
were faithful there, they would be everywhere. He who 
could face a Jewish mob would never flinch at the call 
of duty elsewhere. The whole world was their parish, 
not Israel alone, but they were to begin with their own 
kinsmen and friends. This was as hard for them as it 


198 The Life of Christ 

is for us. They would have gladly kept quiet until well 
away. 

But in this work they did not stand alone. Jesus was 
now triumphant. He would be their Leader. Relying 
upon Him they had no reason for hesitancy or dismay 
or delay, for He was supreme, the Lord of all, “in 
whom all things consist.” Their one duty was to go 
ahead, persistently, patiently, hopefully, with their 
work. 

They were to “disciple all nations.” What a noble 
task for men who had learned in the presence of such a 
Master what disciple meant! It was no meaning¬ 
less consecration through a formula, hut an introduction 
to the Christlike type of life, not alone as an ideal but as 
an activity. A great commission this was, one not sat¬ 
isfied by the wonderful work done during those first 
Christian generations, but transmitted to each genera¬ 
tion as a solemn obligation which it dare not neglect. 
In proportion as Christendom realizes the full meaning 
of Christ-likeness, in that degree it is bound to propa¬ 
gate it abroad. 

But they were to tarry at Jerusalem until clothed 
with heavenly power. How wise a restriction upon 
those and all other disciples! The one really essential 
personal gift in those who would speak for God is that 
sense of power which accompanies the consciousness of 
His abiding presence. Without this conviction there is 
no reality in the message; with it the words are words 
of life. 


Chapter 52. The Man Christ Jesus 


199 


Chapter 52.—The Han Christ Jesus ; A General Review. 

The last week in the active life of J esus hardly needs 
reviewing. Its incidents are so connected, its personal¬ 
ities so vivid that they are quite unforgettable. But 
one personality dominates all others. His fortunes are 
truly the key to the whole record. All else is of trifling 
importance. 

A similar conclusion is reached by the student of that 
short period of the history of the world, during which 
Jesus of Nazareth lived His active life of holy goodness. 
Little that happened really counted save those things 
which centered around Him. The haughty ruler at 
Rome would have crucified the maker of such a treason¬ 
able saying; his satellites and representatives in Syria 
and Palestine or the far East might have laughed the 
idea to scorn, but it would have been entirely true, and 
all broad-minded historians of to-day admit it. Rome’s 
ambitions and capacities served chiefly to prepare the 
way of the Cross; Greek culture and Jewish hostility 
were alike useful in insuring Christianity a hearing 
before the whole world. The religion which Jesus 
formulated as the way of life, along which He had 
furnished an example, and the habit of witnessing to the 
value of this spiritual life, which He urged upon all 
His disciples, became irresistible. But the secret of 
Christianity’s success lay not so much in the preparation 
for it, so providentially made, nor in the teachings 
regarding things spiritual in which He summed up so 
simply and yet so perfectly the basis, the motives, the 
methods and the right attitude of the truly religious 
soul. It lay in the wonderful personality of Jesus, at 
once attracting, educating, inspiring and refining all 
minds with which He had contact. He gloriously 
embodied the spirtual ideas on which He loved to dwell. 
He was religion itself, for in truly following Him, men 
served God. 

We do not honor Jesus, however, by merely declaring 
that He led men to God. He was more than good, more 
than obedient; He was eminently sane and wise. Com- 


200 


The Life of Christ 

pared with other religious leaders He easily stands pre¬ 
eminent. John the Baptist He declared to be a true 
representative of the best type of Jewish life and 
thought, but John the Baptist had the narrow vision of 
the ascetic and the recluse, a strong, upright, earnest 
personality but no permanent leader of humanity. The 
Jewish rabbi, Hillel, has often been compared with 
Jesus. He was certainly an enlightened and liberal 
Jew, sober of judgment, considerate, broad-minded, but 
he set no value upon men and women as such. He had 
the reserve of his class and to some extent its machine¬ 
like conception of religion. 

Jesus permitted neither exclusiveness nor asceticism 
to temper His view of the duty of good men in this 
world. He represented rather the privilege of universal 
service, each person performing gladly and freely his 
part for the common good, helping to make, the world a 
fitting abode for Godlike people. This He could do 
because, like no other one who ever lived, Jesus entered 
completely into actual life, not merely sympathizing 
with those in difficult conditions of life, but sharing in 
the conditions themselves, and exhibiting the true way 
of overcoming or enduring them. 

Like no other religious teacher Jesus knew God and 
could make Him real to men. He was not the first one 
to call Him Father; but He was practically the first one 
who gave the relationship a living significance. The 
tendency of Judaism had been to emphasize the sover¬ 
eignty of God. His awful holiness only served to 
remove Him from the proximity of sinful human kind. 
He was a judge, a righteous ruler, a standard of perfec¬ 
tion, but not a lovable personality, thoughtful for the 
individual man. But Jesus revolutionized men’s ideas 
regarding God. He talked with Him in complete 
sympathy. He dwelt upon His love and goodness. He 
encouraged confidence in His fatherly care for all men. 
He enforced His claim to a true filial obedience, which 
rejoices in the trusts imposed and responds with 
eagerness. 


Chapter 52. The Man Christ Jesus 201 

But Jesus also knew all of the secrets of the human 
heart. He was unerring in His judgment of men, yet 
believed in them. He was an optimist, because He could 
see more clearly than most men the good that hides 
away from sight in the worst of men. His friendliness 
melted opposition that was not vicious and kindled zeal 
that was dormant. Companionship with Him gave 
every man a vision of his best self, for Jesus was a con¬ 
tinual embodiment of human ideals. He exhibited the 
fullest and most normal development of which the 
human body or mind is capable, and hence the most 
attractive personality. His one comprehensive princi¬ 
ple regarding man was that he can be like God and 
hence should become Godlike. 

Ho less well than God or man did He know the world 
and its true character. He sometimes used the word 
figuratively to express a state of hostility to God, but 
usually the world was for Him the scene of God’s glori¬ 
ous work for men. It was His tool, to be made use of; 
not an opponent of which to stand in fear. 

Jesus was ever defining the relationship of these 
various factors in the universe of spirit: God, man, and 
the universe. God was supreme in His leadership; man 
God’s willing and unselfish instrument for service, mak¬ 
ing the world a paradise indeed. Like the prophets of 
old He was ever pleading for an earnest and devoted 
attention to the highest things. His greater effective¬ 
ness becomes apparent when we compare any prophetic 
utterance with the Sermon on the Mount. 

Best of all He knew Himself as one commissioned to 
reveal God to men in all His perfection. Prophets had 
struggled to express in broader and clearer ways their 
growing conception of God in His working relationship 
to the world. Jesus knew that He alone perfectly 
understood all the factors in this problem and could 
embody them in His own personality. He had a mis¬ 
sion, the greatest one conceivable. He left mankind to 
deliberately determine whether He fulfilled it. 

The questions which the earnest student of His life 


202 


The Life of Christ 


should ask are such as these: Did Jesus through His 
acts and words enable men to get permanently closer to 
God? Did He reveal a larger range of human possi¬ 
bilities as well as a nobler normal life ? Did He define 
human life in such a way as to give every experience its 
place in the fostering of a Godlike life, making the world 
our own ? Did He succeed in naturalizing the spiritual 
world and in giving it its true supremacy over the 
natural? Did He establish all history, all life, all 
thought, all expectancy in its right relations? Then 
the long-time controversies regarding His divinity or 
humanity no longer demand discussion by the one who 
can truthfully reply in the affirmative, for the substance 
of all that His divinity demands will have been 
conceded. 









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Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: July 2005 

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